Don't Blog Angry

 Today I was going to write my part 2 of the assault on our freedoms, but I have decided to make a new rule and not to write anything here while I am angry. So today I have decided to take a breath and let all that happened just soak in and worry about it later , be clear headed.

You should never blog angry , because your arguments will  most likely be torn apart and you will look foolish. When you are angry and you feel the need to write a blog , post a video of Family Guy:


There are many things that have made me angry these past couple days such as :

1. The realization that I have to live another 4 years with Obama as president
2. The Baltimore Ravens are in the Superbowl
3. The wind chill is below zero degrees and I want to go running
4. My attempts to make the band Duran Duran the official "Fab Four" from England has gone unnoticed

These are the 4 biggest things among others that have put me in a foul mood. Blogging sometimes helps, but today as I sit here writing this, it is not helping . So maybe I should just walk away or maybe I will just post a picture of my brother in my mother's nightgown:

Now I feel better

The Assault on Freedom -Part 1

I see the pictures

These are the pictures that people post on their Facebook pages that show Adolf Hitler surrounded by children as he tries to gain support of the German people by saying his programs will create a better country in the future for our children.

I do disagree in the comparisons that people use to compare Hitler's plan to Obama's plan. I don't believe that Obama plans for our country are the same as Hitler's. This is not to say that Obama's policies are good for our country, they are not. I believe his intentions are good based on what he believes, that government is the answer. I believe that the more the government gets involved in our lives the more freedoms we lose.

So the assault on our freedoms is not intentional, it is happening because we (as a country) have elected people who believe that government is the answer . As our government programs such as welfare, food stamps and Obamacare grow larger and more people rely on them for their survival , this makes for a bigger government and we as taxpayers have to fund this government which means we all have to pay more in taxes, and that will increase.

The people that are on these programs vote. The majority will vote for people who support these programs and these people will get re-elected. As the people who depend upon government programs increase, the more people who vote for these policies will increase, which will only increase the size and power of our government .

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day , teach him how to fish , he will eat forever" is a quote that always comes to mind when I think about what these programs should be about. They should be about getting people back on their feet and getting them back out to work . I am not saying to eliminate these programs (except for Obamacare... that needs to go).If you want more revenue for our government , we need to cut taxes , give businesses incentives (tax breaks , etc.) to hire more people and get people back to work so they are paying taxes which will then create more revenue. These programs will then not have to be funded as heavily as they are and we then could use that money to pay off our increasing debt. Everyone wins.

This is the first in a series about the assault on our freedoms. Please comment below 

Change Is Easy....To Say

You are the one that chooses if the change in your life is a success or Failure

Last night I watched the "Biggest Loser" . I haven't watched the show in a while, but I have always drawn some inspiration from it. It is neat to see the people on the show change over the few weeks , both in their confidence and physical appearance. Granted there are professional trainers there in your face the whole time yelling at you and pushing you to achieve your goals . It is still neat to see the change.

Last night, there was a participant who walked off the show . She was given the choice to do the exercises or leave the show. She chose to leave. It really got me to think about what it really takes to change something about yourself and the hard work that it takes . She kept saying on her exit interview she didn't know how hard it was going to be, both mentally and physically.

Many people talk about changing an aspect of their lives, whether it is losing weight,quitting smoking, changing jobs or anything like that. For the majority of us when we get to the point where we want to do something about it, we find excuses not to do it. Then we convince ourselves that those excuses are valid.

Talking about changing ourselves is the easy part, the hard part is the day to day decisions that we have to make to make that change a reality. Change is NOT easy, but becomes easier when you realize that most of the excuses you make to go ahead with the change are not valid and you push through it and create a culture in your life for believing in success, not failure.

So before we throw away those New Years resolutions, think about the reasons that you are not going to complete them. Are the reasons excuses to make you feel better about yourself when you fail?

The First Page, 2013 Resolutions

This was posted on a friends Facebook page , I love this!

Today is January 1st , the first day of 2013. Every New Year's Day brings forth hope to many that they can change their life around. What better day to do it than the first day of the year right? Here are a few of mine, but first before we move forward, we need to take a look back.

• 2012 was a year of changes. I won't go into many details, but it seemed as if someone kicked me down  and every time I got back up , I felt the boot kicking me down once again. There were many lessons to be learned from last year, and by the end of the year, I was still being kicked, but this time I did not go down.These are the lessons learned that I will try to carry into the next year. 
• I have also learned to rely on the strength of the people that are around me, my family and my friends. I needed you all more than ever and you came through. 
• My mother is one strong woman! I knew that already, but it was reaffirmed.
• I was reminded everyday how important my marriage to my wife is to me. God gave me the greatest gift when He brought her into my life . 

Now for what I need to work on in no particular order :

• Pick my guitar back up. It seems that my life over the past few years has made a movement back to things I did when I was in high school and college , music and performing was a big part of me then, and I believe will be a part of my future as well.
• Finish my upstairs bathroom. It can no longer be my personal bathroom. My son has shown that he has the same talents as I have . We need two bathrooms. 
• Help others. Many people helped out this year when my Dad passed, the best way to honor his memory and to repay others is to help those in needs.
• Qualify for the Boston Marathon. I need to run 3 hours and 15 minutes at Buffalo or Erie to do it. ( I did state that in an earlier post that I would run The Wineglass Marathon , but it conflicts with another race that I need to run) 
• Continue trying to better myself. Need to continue to do whatever it takes to be a better Father, husband, son, brother and friend

That is it, I look forward to a new year of scanning my head and sharing it with you! Happy New Year!

I am Ready To Talk About Gun Control

Friday morning the unthinkable happened in Newtown ,CT. An obviously sick individual went into an elementary school and killed 18 children and 8 adults were needlessly killed. The whole country mourns the lives of these individuals as their lives were cut short.

Although many of you were ready to use this event as an example to further your argument to have tighter gun control laws or not. I was not ready to get int the discussion , until now.as with all debates that we have, we need to respect every one's right to free speech . This is not going on. There is no way that we can come to an agreement if we are not willing to listen to the other sides arguments. We may not have to agree with the points that are made, but we should respect the right for people to make those points.

I fully support the right for people to own weapons. The majority of weapon owners follow the laws set in place and would only use their weapons if needed and only as a last resort . Taking their weapons away will not cure the problems that we have, it will only make us defenseless against the problems.

I know it is a overused argument, but when has a gun killed anyone on it's own. When has it drove it self to a public place and opened fire on people ? There has always been a person or people behind a gun pulling the trigger.That is what we should focus our attention on . How do we stop these people from committing these horrible acts?

Banning weapons is not the answer, where there is a will there is a way. For example we need to look no farther than or war on drugs. Have we won that war yet? Again, I repeat when there is a will there is a way.

I think as a society we need to start tuning out the media's coverage of these events as a start. Although nobody wants these events to happen , the media seizes the opportunity to increase their ratings and give you every ounce of details regarding the event. They go into great detail of the person committing these crimes lives. They make these people and what whatever reason they had for doing these things bigger than life. This , in my opinion, only fuels the next crazy person to do something horrifying.

I agree with President Obama, this does have to stop and maybe one of these high profile people should turn the attention on the media's attention to all of this , we may begin to start the process to stopping this.

Empty Chair

I thought I was doing fine until my Mom sent me a Christmas card.

"Around the Christmas table there is an empty chair this year

And yet our hearts are hopeful,

though the season' bittersweet,

Because we know the one we love

has filled another seat

For another banquet table

abounds with joy and love 

For those who've made the journey

to be with our Lord above

This season,may you celebrate

the faith that is the heart of Christmas

the hope that lies ahead in heaven,

and the love of those we hold in our arms

and in our memories"

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year and the memories and traditions of the past are ones that I will cherish. It saddens and excites me that we will be starting new traditions this year because of the lost of my father. 

But what I really want for Christmas I can't put on my Amazon wish list, I can't circle in a catalog.... I just want to hug my Dad one more time. 

Driving Drunk

On Tuesday November 27, 2012 there was a horrific accident right up the road from me where a 9 month old baby lost her life allegedly due to someone who got behind the wheel after having a few drinks. You can read about the story here in this Buffalo News article. If convicted of the DWI charge this would be this woman's second .

I have been reading posts on Facebook trashing this woman for what she has done and yesterday on the Tom Bauerle show (a local talk show host on the radio) this was the main topic of discussion. Many people were calling in disgusted about the accident. They have the right to be, it was a horrible accident that could have been prevented if she didn't get behind the wheel after having a few too many alcoholic drinks.

Although I am saddened by this , and I too agree that this woman should be punished to the full extent of the law if found guilty, there have been way too many times that I got behind the wheel of a car when I should not have. This could have easily been me, I was lucky ....extremely lucky and so were the people who shared the road with me while I was driving drunk.

I still do drink (much less than I use too) , and at times I have more than I can tolerate,but it has been a very long time since I have driven home drunk as a skunk, or even after drinking at all. I usually will plan ahead with a ride home with someone who hasn't drank, drink at home or walk home. Many times I think about the lives that I have put in danger and the lives that would change forever if I would have gotten into an accident and hurt or killed someone.

It would be hypocritical of me to chastise this woman about this unfortunate accident without seriously taking a hard look at myself and realize that that could have easily been me or could easily BE me if I make the wrong decision again.