I just had to read news articles this morning, didn't I? I'll have my eyes on Egypt, hoping that turns for the better, but for now lets address an issue in the states--

C'mon white house, let's be honest. You didn't want a train wreck happening in October to damage the chances of your party winning the house, so you just delayed O-Care until after the 2014 elections. Seriously, if this was such a...n issue that you see the need for a delay, why wasn't this addressed in 2009, when all these companies were telling you the same stuff and raising the same concerns that you are finally acknowledging?

Or was it because, like Nancy Pelosi said, "We need to pass the bill to see whats in it", and NOW you're just realizing the complexity that comes with trying to overhaul one of the most pro-active, compassionate health care systems in the world (regardless of being able to pay for treatment or not).. you mean to tell me these companies read the bill faster and more comprehensively than you and your party did? It is YOUR law/Act, isn't it?.. just saying...

Now you have delayed coverage to lower income families (some who were counting on it to benefit their families), and now you have showed me that you can't even manage to get your "top priority" in place when you said you would. Kind of like our timeline for leaving Afghanistan, or strengthening relations with countries in the middle east, or reducing drone strikes, or being in the middle and bringing both parties together, or being transparent (all the denied/stripped FOIA requests), or "no lobbyists in my cabinet", or... but, I digress.. I'm sure some of my friends may find me to be a little too cynical with this.

With all those top priorities, no wonder he can't manage any of them--
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/24/what-is-president-obamas-top-priority-hint-hes-got-at-least-18-of-them/
 
Life is busy, so writing is hard, but I will keep writing when I have the time. I am really annoying with all these "themed" named groups and web sites. All these groups and website that are about freedom, loving america, prepare yourself, etc. all have names like Tea Party Patriot, MyPatriotSupply, AmericanPatriot, blah blah.. do you really have to make it so cheesy? The NRA is a staple for some of the basic american rights, some of the basic principles that Americans citizens are entrusted to maintain- right to arms, freedom of speech, right to defend yourself, etc. and their name is sensible. Just annoying,the other groups just water down the true meaning of patriot and American, and make it a tiresome word to hear.. like the word Epic- over used by media, and now we're burned out on the word..thats the last thing I want from my country for Patriot and America. Anyways, as I digress from my random thought, I want to get to my main topic...

So far since I last wrote, we have had:

Obama and the white house constantly try to spin Benghazi while being caught over and over in its lies.

IRS has been exposed for delaying non-profit group status to anyone with a conservative voting record or conservative/patriot group mission statement, all the while liberal groups were approved at quick speed, and Obama's brother in Kenya received expedited approval for his non profit, PLUS it was back dated over 2.5 years (which is illegal).

Snowden, an NSA whistleblower, goes public with information that the public pretty much knows without being told (even the movied portray it left and right)- the NSA/FBI/Government all listen and monitor your calls, emails, chats, texts, computers, etc. and logs them all in a giant databases without warrant or permissions

Eric hold has been assigned to investigate himself on these matters since it was he who approved such things..


Now all these have been brought to the attentions of the directors, management, white house, and all claims to have no knowledge, no meetings or briefing on such activity, nothing. They are not accountable for those actions.
 
I've been busy, havn't been able to write lately. But all is well. Well, except for my daughter had a cold for a couple of days, and our son had a terrible congested cough and runny nose due to the weather change. Oh, and..

  • North korea is moving ever more closely to wanting to blow someone/something up,
    -Iran is expanding is nuclear reactors amidst the earthquakes its been having
  • China has a breakout of a new flu strand that is contracted through eating infected chicken (as far as they know at the moment).
    -Oklahoma just had a couple earthquakes,
    -Massachusetts just passed a major gun ban law that is the strictest in history
    -Colorado has banned the most common hunting shotgun due to its shell capacity
    -Cyrpus, Greece is taking money from its depositers to cover its wreckless spending (talk about punishing the people for a problem that was created by only a few)
  • -Margaret Thatcher dies (fought for European poor to have oppotunity to make it against the elite) and the europeans play 'Ding Dong the Witch is dead'. Clueless people..
  • Hugo Chavez dies, and we see he had billions in the bank, while his people suffered every day (even though he claimed to 'fight' for them, typical dictator speak)
-The boston marathon had 2 bombs detonated at the finish line injuring 170 people, killing 3

I would mostly like to focus on the marathon because it should ring some bells. With the latest ban on guns to help deter public shootings and violence, this poses an example of how it really won't make a difference. The reason is because anyone with a motive to harm others will find a way, whether they drive their car through the middle of the race or some other means. They will find a way to accomplish their goal partially or entirely.

Besides that, the boston marathon is a prime example of whats to come in the future of our country. To us right now, this is crazy. We aren't used to seeing this, it rarely happens. But, I'm afraid this is only the beginning of the environment our children will be forced to live. 
    An environment where police, federal agents, and authorities will try to more closely monitor everyone in every way (violating all our rights in the name of security and safety. Which is always the first step to eliminating freedom and the liberties that come with it).
    An environment where our kids are more desensitized to a bomb going off in a shopping mall or street. A shooting at a store or school. A stabbing.Or even mass riot against a group of people, organization, business, political leaders, voters, workers, civilians, etc. 
    I want to link to some articles here with pictures, i might save some and add them myself in case those sites eventually purge their records of such things due to its graphic nature (in these days if someone is offended, the response is to give them what they want, rather than decide how to handle it ratioanlly). As I watched Fox News (yes, because they ARE accurately reporting, without labeling the attack immediately as a domestic right wing terrorist- MSNBC Chris Mathews). I sent my father a text while watching the live, raw feed. I saw people just bloodied all over. Faces, arms, legs, bodies all burned, cut up, or severed. A man rolls by on a wheel chair with his on his shin bone left on his lower leg. A Wonman with a mangled hand. A woman on a stretcher with her one leg stright foot point up, and her left leg all cut up, thigh facing up, knee and below twisted inward. This is to give you an idea of what this little incident did. Some heavy damage. It killed an 8 year old. I saw a fold n' go stroller right by the blast area all mangled, and thought of someone with a small child, 9 mths, 2 years, 8 years? I hoped to god they had just parked the stroller and carried their kid away on their shoulders or something to see the race.
    No one claims responsiblity, and if it was a terrorist attack, it was a huge failure on their part, pathetic. Which is why I feel it had to be a domestic person acting on their own or with a very small group of people.  Or could it be that no terrorist group wants to take responsibility because the attack was botched and they didn't want to look incompetent to America and its allies? Only one terror group says they are glad that we have had this happen to us.
    But why? Why are they glad and so determined this happens to us? Because it happens in the middle east every day and its not fair that we don't experience in our country? That we are "world police" that no one like or appreciates, but at the first sign of danger or struggle, they all come to us for help? It makes no sense. This sort of thing should never happen. I'm furious. I'm in the wrong profession. I want to be at that scene wrapping their leg, rushing them to the hospital. I want to be searching the scene for other weapons or suspicious activity. I want to scour video and photos and look for anything out of the ordinary. But, i feel that way for the people in Africa, Ethiopia, and other starved countries. I feel that way for the people being kidnapped and sold into slavery in Thailand. Its my nature, I guess. I can't sit back and watch it unfold and not want to react. So, its hard to watch it, see whats happening, and feel helpless because your hundred of miles away. Below are some links (and hopefully some


TheBlaze has many pictures 
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/15/the-first-incredible-pictures-from-boston-explosion-and-aftermath/

The Daily Mail's Pictures
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2309563/Boston-bombing-2013-pictures-Marathon-blasts-witnesses-recount-war-zone-end.html

 
Good morning. Its early, but I read some stories and I found something funny. Our president has now said that they believe Iran is about 1 year away from developing a working nuclear bomb. Mind you, when he ran for office in 2008, he said that Iran was a little country that poses no threat to us. Despite all the constant warnings of their development, the russians assisting them with creating the technology for the enrichment centers (why do that? Do the Russians have other tricks up their sleave? Putin is definetly no diplomatic friendly guy with changing the russian laws/processes back to Stalin era methods, and his obvious distaste for the US and its allies). Despite the fact that we infected the iranian enrichment centers with the Stuxnet virus to "slow" things down. In reality, it put the iranians in total grid lock and set them back a long time. If the US hitting Iran with that virus doesn't show we already know how close they are to a nuke, I don't know what does. Despite Israel warnings us since before 2008 that Iran sought to create nuclear bombs and focus them on Israel and its allies. Despite the assassination of iranian scientists by Israel, our new leader and his staff felt Iran was not THAT big of a threat.

Now, our president hops on a flight to meet with Bibi Netanyahu in Israel to talk strategy. His first question is about the threat of Iran, where he admits that they are about 1 year away from a nuclear bomb, and we don't want to let things get too close before we act..ummmmm, I'd say things already are a little too close.

Did I mention that iran has a bunch of sanctions on them right now due to this, but somehow still find the uranium to develop and enrich? Did I also mention that they just recently (about a mont ago) announced they found a huge uranium deposit in their country? so much for sanctions, so much for UN intervention, so much for anything but Stuxnet and maybe another overnight air strike from Israel. 

I write this because it is frustrating that the public and our allies have seen Iran rapibly on the verge of developing a nuclear bomb, but our president refused to take it seriously (or does he not care on purpose? thanks to the internet, you'll be able to youtube all his responses, speeches, and press coverage to see how he snubbed Israel countless times for basketball games, lunches, or whatever leisure he felt was more important). I write this because simple minded americans, those who don't even care about politics and wish we would let the other parts of the world function without our intervention were even making the assessment back then that Iran was hell bent on developing a nuke. Search Ahmadinejad's comments at the UN and about Israel. Denies the Holocaust existed (claims it was made up), tells the UN their peaceful (ha! all those foreign hikers, tourists, and citizens who used twitter, all imprisoned for no reason or for unjustifiable ones- many executed) All the signs have been there for so long, all the red flags, all the actions that scream we need to this man seriously because he has no care what the rest of the world thinks. He only cares about developing the bomb, using that as leverage to gain more power in the global spectrum, and then who to use it on...

We live in dark time, more has happened in the past 12 years so rapidly then I can fathom happened in the past 50. the 1900's had 2 world wars, vietnam, and the korean war to name a few- all very bad. But, now we live in a time where you don't send troops to do all the dirty work. Technology does. You use drones and satellite guided bombs. Viruses, hackers, Anonymous, LulzSec, KnightSec, CIA, NSA, Kremlin, China Intelligence- All have hacked all they can from anyone. Shut down anyone, breach whatever is necessary, stolen top secret plans/designs/blue prints. Thanks to apps like Tor, they can cover their tracks in seconds. The world wars required man power, artillery, and took years to resolve. You can bring down an entire power grid, the stock market, or whatever your malicious hacker heart desires in the click of a button...That doesn't include the drones used for surveillance and bombing (which were hacked  and landed at their own base by iranians on one of our fly overs, and in under 20 minutes by a professor a few students from a university in Texas). Our american are being constantly stripped piece by piece. Our politicians havn't had a budget in over 4 years which means there is no real accounts sheet that shows where our money has been spent.  Like, I said dark times.. because it can all change at the click of a button...

 
Here's some irony for everyone-

Tomorrow you can no longer buy anything larger than a 16 oz drink from a restaurant in NYC (gas stations and grocery stores excluded). Mayor Bloomberg and friends feel this will cure the obesity epidemic that apparently plagues NYC (not because of pizza, buffets, etc..no, not those). BUT, you still have the right to choose to abort your baby. They feel you are qualified to make that choice, but you don't have the capacity to make the choice for an alternative drink size...

Coffe chains Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks are affected. Some of their drinks are exempt because it has half milk in it (still doesn't the calories of the drink). Both companies have to change how some drinks will be made (no sugar in them), and eliminate their inventory of cups larger than 16 oz for those drinks, since they are worthless.

I can't help but laugh how fast things have changed in NYC. Heck, you can't even have water served to your table in a restuarant without you asking for it first, otherwise the restaurant could be fined. The influence of the NYC government in the personal matters of its citizens is quite funny. Remember, they feel you are qualified to choose whether or not to abort your baby, but not qualified to make a simple choice in drink size.

Imagine what would happen if Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks pulled out of NYC until the ban was lifted because of the impact to their profit margin- I'd bet the city would be in chaos..

Oh,did I mention how bad the NYC public schools are? approx 80% can't read/write correctly.. so glad NYC politics has their priorities straight...elections have consequences
 
I can summarize the explanation in one sentence.

It's a tax payer funded job market.

So, in the end, the government worker is at the mercy of 2 things- the economy and ultimately the american tax payer (which includes small business).

I am writing this because I got into a Facebook debate with teachers over a teacher strike happening at a local school. The things these striking teacher have done (intimidate the newly hired subs and chase them away, tell the kids to be disobedient, the shouting/yelling at parents/school staff, the blocking of staffs cars from entering exiting buildings, etc.) were really pissing me off, considering these teachers kept saying they cared so much about the children and its not their (the teachers unions) fault that the children have to suffer.

It is the teachers fault. They don't seem to get the fact that they live in a tax payer driven industry. Communities don't want their taxes going up, especially now. Frankly, taxes are a citizens worst enemy due to the unjustified withdrawal of money that is rightfully yours. Many families have had to make drastic cuts to their life styles as a means to keep their family afloat. So, don't complain to me that you are outraged that a school wants to freeze your pay, or can't meet your new pension demands. Its the reality of your profession, and its common knowledge that majority of schools have had less and less money every year for their programs, updates, staff, and curriculum, etc.

People have to realize that teachers are not driven by consumer supply and demand, they are driver by governments involvment in your child's education. Governments rely on the tax payer to keep their government program funded. If the funds decrease, cuts have to be made. If the funds, increase you can save the money for a rainy day or invest it in necessary updates, pension plans, salary's etc. Its the vicious cycle that plagues government programs and their bloated unneccessary spending- the fact that cash flow is volatile and does not continuously increase.

I just needed to make a point. Rembmer, your government job is not decided by a consumer market, its decided by the american tax payer. You (government worker) knew that when you took job (if not, your own fault for not doing your own due diligence and being realistic). Now, get off your high horse, suck it up, stop whining, and start teaching your course. It's funny how teachers say they are underpaid, but they didn't choose it for the pay, they chose it because they love their job..Yet, look what's happening in Strongsville, OH if they don't get their way. Hypocrisy at its finest..


-Lukas, out
 
I am listening to all the shouting from the roof tops about how the sky is going to fall if we don't resolve this sequester issue. I look around and I see a couple of things.

1.) The 84 billion that is talked about is like a time release capsule. Its not instant, its over time. The cuts that impact many areas are not active after midnight, Friday 2/28/13. They are over X years. The total cut is so miniscule its laughable when you compare it to the amount of cuts Americans across the country are making in order to be able to pay their mortgage, pay utility bills, fill up their cars, buy food for their families, etc.

2.)Our congress has not passed a budget in over 4 years (going on 5). Yet, they have increased spending this year. If this 84 billion is that significant amongst the already huge increases in spending (money that is still being printed and still waiting to be distributed). I recall the whole "pay as you go" speech Obama gave, but we still havn't seen any accountability. Thanks in part to not passing a budget. Something myself, and majority of Americans could never think of doing.

3.) I find it funny- Obama suggested the sequester, enlisted help to create it (this guy never does anything on his own, its either crafted for him, or he gets help from various outsiders), and voted for it in 2010. The deal? find areas to cut fat in the government or we'll automically enforce cuts to these X areas. So, this is in reality, Obama's doing and attacking to himself. Something he could have avoided for over 2 years.

How could it be avoided? Simple. The sequester focuses on the jugular of our countries economy and safety. Some areas claimed to be affected- The borders, the military,Dept of Defense, schools, teachers, welfare recipients, assistantance programs, local emergency services, etc. All things that strike home with Americans. These things are the most relevent to keep budgets for right now. Review these areas later when we have already started to get our spending in the right direction. But, instead of looking at the GSA's $800,000 lavish outings, the EPA's closed door law suit settlements paid out to green activist groups, the bloated amount of governemnt employees that couldn't be maintained unless we increase taxes to cover our spending (red flag that it can't be afforded and will collapse), the amount of tax money wasted in the process to get welfare to a welfare recipient; Obama focuses on the things that are actually the responsbility of our federal governement to maintain. The protection of the citizens- cut.Military and Defense will have to slash budget. The borders? Cut. Allowing more illegal immigrants to live here for free and received hand outs (I know it makes sense.). These are two of many.

So, I wonder...

Did Obama put a knife to the jugular of the USA in hopes that it would intimidate a congress that loves to do nothing but spend tax money without any worry of accoutability to pay for it? 

Did he think to himself "we can cut a lot of areas, if I structure it this way...That'll scare them into cooperating!"? 

Perhaps. Stupid, but perhaps.

Or was it intentional because he knew there was such grid lock that nothing would be done, and he could paint the picture that its the fault of the republicans. Make them the scape goat. The ones to blame, and then when the house and senate election comes in November of 2013, the people will vote out the republicans and vote in more democrats, thus, have control. A super majority as its called when a party dominates 60% of the Senate and House. Could that be his plan? I leave it you, but it seems like the latter of the two is the trick up his sleeve.

Why? Because Obama designed and signed the Sequester into law instead of saying "whoa whoa, wait a minute. We have bloated spending in all departments. We can cut 2% from various areas while preserving our true responsibilities- the defense, teachers, emergency services, low taxes, etc. Yet, he didn't. 

Remember of the trillions we are spending this year, the cut is only 84 billion over time, not instant. Don't be a sheep, look at whats really at stake and you'll realize that at the end of the day, all that is really falling from the sky is a rain drop.

Lukas..out


 
 
I see Hobby Lobby is threatened to be fined over $1 million dollars a day if they don't provide coverage for the morning after pill (which is not a right, but a personal choice) and other forms of birth control. This is really a violation of the US constitution and far from any real human right. This is a choice, just as I choose to mow my lawn rather than hire a company to do it for me, put money in savings paying .08% interest vs. spending it or investing it, buy organic food instead of processed food, etc. All are choices, not a right that I'm entitled to. This same fine is applied to any other private business in America that chooses not to provide this coverage for their employees.

Then, I see Planned Parenthood receives a record amount of our tax dollars this year for their "organization" (again, thanks to our new health care law).

I think about the name "planned parenthood". I look at the correlation between the name Planned Parenthood and what it stands for, which looks to imply "planning to be a parent". Next, we look at Planned Parenthoods advocation for abortion, contraception, birth control, etc. (which is what Planned Parenthood strongly supports and receies our tax dollars for, among its other functions), and we see how all those methods are designed to prevent someone(s) from being/becoming parents and taking on such responsibility.

A simple look shows that Planned Parenthood advocates the very opposite of what their name descibes. I would expect them to assist in helping you become parents, and preparing/PLANNING for parenthood, not providing solutions to circumvent it.

So, our tax dollars are thrown at a group that doesn't even actually do what its name implies, but we force a private company (again unconstitutional) to pay excessive amounts of money because either 1) they can't afford to do it, or 2) they don't choose to do it because it does not fit their companies principles/beliefs/obligations. Remember, employee's know this ahead of time when they are hired and this is disclosed to them. Even more the employee has the ability to leave the company and go find a job with one that does provide such coverage should they not like the options provided.

This just feels completely backwards to me. As if the opposite of what anyone with common sense would do...

What do you think? Comments welcome

 
I tell you, news corporations love these kinds of days. Their lives become so easy as long as bad things happen nationally or internationally. Steve Jobs passed away.  Headline across all major news networks? to paraphrase, "Steve Jobs passes away".  The articles all tell the same story. It's as if the networks meet up and go over notes together and then roll out generic articles with a couple tweaks so as not to appear the same.  I think it is a shame that Jobs has passed away so soon, especially to pancreatic cancer.  What a terrible way to go, life deteriorates so fast. I will say that I don't fully agree with all the people crying from the rooftops, as if Apple is dead.  I think he is a great business man, and a very driven CEO. I think his real skill was taking a company that was hidden in the shadow of Microsoft and turning it into the leader of personal computer innovation, something that Micrsofot thought it had all wrapped up. He wasn't a genius, just smart and strategic.  He hired great people, that did great analysis, which allowed him to make smart decisions. I am sad that he has passed away so soon, but I can only hope that his passing doesn't hurt the momentum Apple has.

On a lighter note, Addi, reached 6 months yesterday. Unfortunately, our little celebration was overshadowed by a visit to the doctor for a check up and some vaccinations. Shes a champ though, she got 2 shots and barely shed a tear.  She cried for about a minute (if that) and calmed right down.  Not sure if it was the fact that mom was carrying her, but, for the benefit of the doubt, it probably was.  Going to bed was another story (sore little legs!!) She has been sitting up even more, loves to talk (typical Lukas), and giggles like crazy. Watching her develop baffles me.  I wish I could learn things as fast as she does. If she can't do something one day, the next day she can!

I touched base with a friend via Facebook the other night (I know, I'm stating the obvious of what we all do on that site).  I find out that he is living in Philidelphia and is starting a company called Paradigm Magazine.  It is a magazine dedicated to art and features a select number of new age artists.  He's already lining up art shows and working on the website.  check it out http://paradigmmagazine.com/site/  best of luck Theo!

Blogging is weird, I don't normally do this, but it is fun.  Hopefully people care enough to read and follow along as this progress
 
In a matter of 1 week, the leaves are already turning golden yellow.  Last Thursday was the kick off for fall, and northeast Ohio celebrated it with sunshine and 75 degrees (go figure). But, after a week, it looks like nature finally got the memo and the leaves got to work with their seasonal art show. Addi could care less what color the leaves are, but they make a great back drop for her fall pictures.

Andrea has been taking more pictures as usual.  Addi will be 6 months on Oct. 5, so, look for more pictures to pop up soon. She is sitting up now all on her own. We took her to the zoo the other week. She loves seeing the animals, but ironically she enjoyed people watching more than anything.  Here are some pictures from the zoo trip.