Happy New Year

Nothing to say today but Happy New Year!

Year In Preview

Since I decided last year to do my "Year In Review" on my birthday to celebrate MY year, this time I think I will do a year in preview.

For 2005 I think I will want to:

1) Take more pictures. I started hot and heavy with the digital camera and kinda slacked off when we moved. Time to jump back into it and of course share with you good folks.

2) Continue my work out program. It seems to be working for me and it is very inexpensive, so I MUST keep up with it. I don't think I have another choice.

3) Get out more! Visit my family more and do more things on the weekend with the wife and boy.

4) Diversify! Read, watch and listen to things outside my normal view. Explore new books and movies I usually wouldn't (the wife would like this one).

I think that will do for now, I of course reserve the right to add but I do not think I shall change any of them. Good luck to you and yours this New Year and I'll see you on the other side!

PS: I see lots of visitors lately, please in helping me with Number 4, suggest a site (Blog, news, commentary) not on my links or blogroll. Thanks!

Snoopy she ain't

So we have guests visiting all week and are spending a lot of time at
my folks. That and we (the wife and I) have to work this week means
leaving the house at 10am and returning after 10:00pm. Now we have a
dog and she is very good about being home alone and if we know we are
going to be out late I will stop home and let her out and hang for a
few so she isn't stuck at home for 12 hours alone. Last night however
was a little different. The boy was with me in the morning and as we
left to go to grandma's I let the dog out and told him to let her in
when he left. I went to start and clean off the car and he came out a
few minutes later to leave. When the wife got home at 10:14pm she was
worried when the dog did not jump her at the front door. That's when
she heard the woof from the backyard. She got left outside all day
and pretty much played by herself. We have several balls and chew
toys outside for her in the summer in a basket by the door. Well the
basket was empty and the toys all over the yard. We think she had a
good time and wanted to go back out after she had come in a said hello
to everyone. Looks like we are building a dog house for her this
summer so she can spend more time out there if she wants.....

And to all a good night.....

Hope Santa treated everyone well this year. I was a good boy and got a few small things (LOTR: Return of the King DVD set, and the last 2 installments of The Dark Tower by Stephen King). The boy made out well as did the wife. A small Christmas (for us) but a good first Christmas in our new home. Visiting, cleaning and now relaxing as the Colts win and Peyton breaks Marino's record. A great Christmas Weekend.

Merry Christmas

Twas the night before Chirstmas......

Twelve years ago on this very night I was driving home from work. I
was a part-time TV technician and the wife was a waitress at a local
steak house. While we were not poor we had very little money living
in a small one bedroom apartment in Watertown New York, expecting our
first child. We had not picked up a tree for they were too expensive
($25) for us and we just didn't have the money. We had our gifts and
two Christmas stockings from Jamesway, we were young and happy and
ready for Christmas. So on the way home I passed a farm with a tree
stand that had a little "Charlie Brown" tree leaning against the fence
post. I pulled up to the house and knocked on the door at 7:00pm on
Christmas Eve and asked how much they wanted for the tree. The man
looked at me and the tree and then just walked out with some twine and
helped me tie it to the roof on my little Chevy Cavalier, I thanked
him, wished him Merry Christmas and put $5 in the tip jar.

When I got home I went to our storage area and dug out an old tree
stand my parents had given us when they last visited and a string of
lights I had hanging in my dorm room for years. I set the tree up and
found a package of candy canes and ribbons the wife had bought to
decorate gifts with. Up went the tree, with the lights, draped with
Candy Canes and ribbon. With a card for the wife and a box under the
tree we celebrated our first, and best, Christmas as a family.

To one and all Merry Christmas!

The Countdown Begins

As all holidays have good traditions, one of mine is the last minute
shop. It is the day before Christmas Eve and I still have a few
things to pick up. We went over the boys gift sack last night and
found while the gifts are smaller they are more expensive!!! And
while it looks like we got him nothing, we spent more this year than
ever before, and we didn't stop at Toys R Us once!!!

My wife's family and mine celebrate differently. To me and mine we
had a few nice gifts under the tree, but it was usually the thought
that counts. A handmade box or $5 trinket was loved as much if not
more than the $50 Hummel. On the other hand my wife and her family
had a tree over-flowing with gifts and while the $10 mittens were
nice, they better be wrapped in a Sach's Fifth Avenue box or wrapped
by Tiffany's. And that is were my wife and I have clashed these past
12 Christmases.

We live the Target/Sears life while some expect the Newman/Marcus
gift. We have come to a happy medium over the years and have bought
thoughtful and tasteful gifts for all our families. And when it comes
down to it we have found it is the effort of selecting the right gift,
the thought you put into it and the execution of your 'gift plan' that
really counts. Sometimes it is an expensive gift that is given and
others it is a simple but significant item to both the gifter and
receiver. One gift I will always remember is the one I gave my father
several years ago. While looking in a used book store I found a box
set of The Lord of The Rings from 1966, paperback in good condition
still with the box. The same set my father gave me in 8th grade to
read, which I have beat to death and while I still have it they are
held together by tape and rubber bands. While it only cost me $4.50
to buy, they actually meant something to me and him. Plus the next
year I got him a Hand held GPS Receiver. Merry Christmas!!!!!

Snow Bound

Got a few inches of the white stuff this morning. Got up early to workout (6:45am) and watched as these "drivers" tried to navigate thru 4 inches of snow. While some areas around here got hammered (upwards of 22 inches) we are not too bad, and coming from living in the snow belt of New York for 16 years I am used to the small stuff. These people go crazy!!! And they do not know how to drive in it, they are more of a danger than the slick roads and should stay home. Now I have to leave early to get to work on time because the moron in front of me will be driving 15mph in a 35mph and 20mph in a 55mph zone. Wish me luck.

And The Goose Is Getting Fat....

I've been hitting the YMCA 3-4 times a week for the past 2 months. The boy wakes up at 6:30am and gets me out of bed by 7, we talk, get ready for school and he goes to the bus stop to play football with his boyz. That is my cue to leave and go work out. I have been going religiously 3, often 4 times a week and every time it is the same. I do 20 minutes on a treadmill then an 8 machine circuit. All the machines are connected to a computer and your exercises generate points and you can compare points to others in your age/sex/condition bracket. I made two milestones recently: 1) In the month of November I was number 243 in points earned for men in November and 2) I broke my 20 minute mile on the treadmill on Friday. The first one is nothing more than a look I am actually working out 3 times a week. The second is more important to me as it was a goal of mine from the start. Today I met with my coach and added 3 more machines, a 2nd set to all machines and 2 new cardio machines so I have options beyond the treadmill.

The reason I say this today is that yesterday at work, an occational co-worker comes up to me and asks if I've lost weight ( a fact I am not aware of, as a rule I do not step on scales ). True or not just the fact that I appear to someone that I have lost some poundage made working out today a lot easier.

So Long, Farewell......

So the father-in-law left yesterday and we had a great visit. After a little airline troubles we got them here a day late but earlier than the airlines 'worked out' (10:00am instead of 3:30pm). We showed the sights, shopped, ate, visited my folks and generally had a good time! The boy was stunned when we went to the airport looking for his great grandma and him seeing his grandfather coming at us on the escalator. The look on his face was worth it, he was quite surprised!

It was such a good weekend (and I took Monday off) that I have nothing to bitch about today. I have a couple of good stories saved for Christmas....

oh my brother got engaged this weekend to his girlfriend of several years. They are very good together and we look forward to having her in our family, we just hope she feels the same way ;-)

oh and I had the strangest dream this morning. My irrational fear of the living dead is well documented here and last night I slept hard but wanted to wake up early to work out. Don't remember too much of the early dreams but I do remember being in a parking garage when a dog howls and runs down a darkened ramp. From down the ramp you hear the dog and other moaning. While everyone is looking around like "What the f*&&#?" I say, "Great, the living dead guess that means I will wake up and hear things at my house for the next hour." And sure enough up the ramp comes the shuffling living dead and as everyone scrambles for their lives I wake up and see that it is 6:00am and am worried that if I roll over and look to the bedroom door I was see it open with someone standing in the hallway. So there I stayed until 7:04am when I heard my dog come up the stairs (or what I hoped was my dog.) and got up to work out. While I have not watched a zombie movie in sometime, I did see an ad for Shawn of the Dead which comes out this week and I want to watch it. I am so screwed up.

If you only visit once a week then I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas! Otherwise see you tomorrow.

Airline

Love the show, hate the reality. My father-in-law was supposed to fly out here tonight for the first time. We haven't seen them in over a year and the boy was going to be surprised when they showed up. Well surprise, their flight was cancelled at the connection. So they are stuck in a strange city (Washington DC) and couldn't get out until 3pm tomorrow (their return flight is Monday afternoon, quick visit) until I hit the internet and get on the cell phone with them and the airline and book a flight on a rival airline (no charge) so they get here at 10am tomorrow. Since the original flight was coming in at Midnight we really only miss the breakfast part of the visit, not too bad......but boy do I hate US Air right now!!!!!!!

Mind Numbing

This week has been a blur. My wife says I mostly push buttons at work and truly that is what I do. However during a live newscast you are on high alert, your mind is extremely focused and you are actually thinking of what did I just do, what am I doing and what do I need to do. However as a director you must make sure the audio person, Technical Director and Camera operator are doing the right thing, the Chyron Op is on the right page, the tapes are available to air, the graphics are correct, listen to the anchor read and roll tapes/graphics/take live shot on the right cue and set up for the next story while listening to the current one. The good bosses understand that TV is not factory work and you do not put in the full 8 hours on your feet stamping widgets. There is lots of downtime with NOTHING going on at all but I guarantee that you would be more exhausted after an intense hour newscast than standing on the factory line after 8 hours......

That being said, we had a situation this week were the PM Director is on vacation, as is the Spanish Director and the other evening Director is out sick since Monday. That leaves one director (me) to direct 6 30 minute shows. My boss stepped in and took one show but that left the other 5 to me, 2 in Spanish, the 5:00 (5:30) and 11:00. By the time I get home I am a zombie and pass out before the head hits the pillow.

One more night of this and then a 3 day weekend!!! Thank God.

Death Penalty

Scott Peterson was given the death penalty yesterday and that started a little 'conversation' at work. I think it is a waste of time an money for this situation simply because California never puts it's Death row Inmates to death, they simply do not follow the rule of the law. When a convict is sentenced to death he/she should get put to death.

As you can tell I am all for the death penalty. While I much rather prefer a life sentence without parole where the convict can rot in jail, some crimes are so disturbing that the death penalty should be considered. No I am not going to list which crimes they are as I think each crime/victim/convict should be looked at individually. Each state has laws which outline the crimes that could warrant a sentence of death and the judge and jury should consider that.

I am aware that our system is not 100% and that sometimes innocent people are convicted for crimes they did not commit (like Bruce Banner) and that in completing the job a jury set forth an innocent person might be put to death. While I would feel sorry for the person and family I feel safer knowing that dangerous, violent criminals are put down like the dogs they are and will no longer harm the good citizens of this great country. And while two wrongs do not make a right, it does even the score for the victims family.

As for Scott Peterson, I think he should have gotten life in prison with no chance of parole. I think the natural order of things in a prison would have taken care of a man who murdered his wife and unborn child.

Sidenote: While directing our Spanish Newscast last night I was about to take a graphic of Peterson with a subtitle of Death Penalty when the producer (who speaks spanish) screams do not take it, do not take it. I got to the anchor on a close up and the producer comes up laughing hysterically. The graphic was to say PENA de Muerte (Penalty of Death) but instead our Art Department messed up and it said PENE de Muerte, or Penis Of Death.

The Tribe Has Spoken

I am a Survivor junkie and the finale was last night. Chris won and should have!!!! In a merged tribe that had 6 women all in alliance and one guy he made it to the final two when he should have been voted off before any of the women were. They hammered him about lying and bullshitting and crap like that. He won because the women could not stay together, PERIOD. There were 7 people on the jury and only 2 were there because of him!! He lied to Julie and Eliza when they got voted off. All the others have each other to blame for getting voted off. The man played hard against great odds and beat them all. Nice Job.

The problem this year was that no one stood out and the show actually was very boring until the last few episodes (say down to the final 7 players). The most exciting thing about this season was that I got to work with Rupert. He did a weekly segment for our news and came in to shoot it every week for 15 minutes then ended up hanging out for an hour or so just talking Survivor and stuff with the crew. That was very cool getting an insight to the game by someone who played it well (twice) and became America's Favorite Survivor. By the by, great guy, nice and personable and would speak with every person that came out to see him.......

Of Baseball and Cancer

Since I've moved to Indiana I found that baseball is not the popular sport I thought it was in the heartland. It's mostly Basketball, followed by Football, and that goes from Professional down to High School. There are High School Fields here larger than College fields in New York. One school just paid several MILLION dollars for an upgraded JV Football Field. Unreal. So I was a little shocked when I found out that a majority of baseball fans here cheer it as their "Secondary" sport and that even worse, they are, gasp, National League Fans. Drawing a little travel circle around Indy and within a 4 hour drive you have the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs (and unmentioned White Sox), and St. Louis Cardinals. Plus our AAA team was the Brewers affiliate, now the Pirates.

Needless to say while we speak the same language, theirs is with a strange dialect. Plus they have no real basis for True Rivalry when it comes to baseball teams, ie Yankees-Red Sox. They couldn't understand my depression over the 3-0 ALCS history making defeat, they couldn't fathom my struggles to actually cheer on the Red Sox (AL) over Cardinals (NL), and look at me strangely when I mention I might have to buy a Sox cap to wear to my fantasy draft and how I will lose a little of my soul (Sidenote: Saw a Sox cap on sale and was going to buy it and the wife told me she would not have her husband buying a Red Sox Hat!!!!)

So I turned to the only man I knew who would understand the hell I was in, A Red Sox Fan. I called my friend and congratulated him on actually seeing his Boston Red Sox actually win the World Series in his lifetime. He responded with: "My feet haven't touched the floor, the dream is a reality, my children can say they were alive when the Sox broke the curse, oh and I have cancer."

God works in mysterious ways and in order for my friend, the Red Sox fan, to enjoy the pride, the euphoria, the in-your-face feelings that Yankee fans have felt at least 6 times in my life, He gave him cancer. Is it a fair trade, my friend might argue yes. Is it too high a price to pay, most definitely. I forget the actual type of cancer but it is not good. The only way to treat it is to remove it, no "Kemmo" or radiation therapy, plain old surgery is the trick. Problem was it was on his collarbone, near the lung and wrapped amid major arteries. He was more likely to die from the surgery than the cancer and was having two surgeons work on him at the same time, the one to cut out the cancer the other to move the blood vessels and keep him alive. I was worried for him, his wife and two young daughters. His doctor said on the freak scale between 0-10 she would be at a 6! He felt good but unsure of the future. We spoke and e-mailed and he readied himself for the worse and went into surgery several weeks after first finding the lump.

Yesterday I received the e-mail I was waiting for. He was in recovery and seeing his family!!!! He came through with flying colors and while he has a lifetime of precaution and preventively measures in front of him, he has that lifetime to do it.

Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus!! (PS For Christmas I would like a World Series Ring for my 2005 New York Yankees, Thanks)

Murder, Murder Most Fowl!

Elves, Bloody Elves

Tis the season for carols, family and Christmas Specials. The perennial favorite in my house is A Charlie Brown Christmas. Mine growing up was The Year Without A Santa Claus, which until recently if you sang the Heat miser Song people would stare at you like you were insane. However one that everyone watches and has seen dozens of times is of course Ruldolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The story, the song, the claymation. It is all there. Years ago MadTV did a GREAT spoof on it putting Martin Scorsese at the helm to create a Goodfellas inspired Christmas special complete with Hermie the Dentist and Tommy Two Times. Awesome. Then the following year it was Coppola inspired as the Reinfather, Don Comet, Don Cupid, Don Donner Don Blitzen and the Head Elf waking up with a Polar Bear head in his bed. Again a hit. While watching those every year since (I taped and cherish them) I remembered something in the original that might have sparked this whole twisted view on a children's classic.

See at the end of the original, Santa stopped by the Island of Lost Toys to delivery these poor souls to wanting children. That is great and fantastic, and the toys are not fixed or changed in anyway. Toys being accepted for what/who they are, great message. Until the end while the credits are rolling and you see the elves giving these toys little umbrellas to float down into the arms of needy children. Then you see the dark side of these little creatures. Out of the bag comes the Owl that couldn't fly and the Elf takes the umbrella, opens it, looks at the flightless owl and tosses the umbrellas off the sleigh then sends the poor flightless owl into the wild blue wonder to plummet to his death. Did I truly just see that!!!!! How did that get past the People for Television Decency?!?!? How do you think that one ended, with kids all around hugging their toys from above except this one poor bastard whose stuffed flightless owl come screaming out of the sky and impales itself on the white picket fence in the backyard.

Merry Freakin' Christmas!

Friday Favorites (Late Again)

Games

What is your favorite...

1. ...board game?
Risk. I haven't played in years but I remember nights in High School hanging out in my friend Vinny's basement playing to all hours. What a rush. I own several versions of it and am just waiting for the boy to be old enough to enjoy it.

2. ...card game?
Euchre. Not really good but something we dads would play on our Cub Scout Camp outs in New York. Always a good time.

3. ...video game?
PC: Total War (Shogun or Medievil)
PS2: Metal of Honor series
GameCube: Star Wars Bounty Hunter (Fett kicks ASS)

4. ...video game controller? (i.e. joystick, game pad, ps2 controller, etc.)
To me the one and only original Atari 2600 Controller. Joystick with one button. Never confusing.

5. ...sport? (watch or participate)
Baseball, Baseball, Baseball. Why are there other sports?

Tuesday's Tales

Today is a blank. I read on one of my daily visits (Danelle) that she has a notebook on here computer open and jots down stuff that comes to her to blog about. I thought that was a great idea and told myself I would start doing that. Unfortunately that is today and I have no good ideas in my right now.

Writers block is funny, just this weekend in casual conversation I came up with about 3-4 things I could really sink my teeth into, yet now they are gone. Is it old age setting in, Adult ADD, or information overload that my mind sometimes turns to mush. I've always had this problem, I can remember movie lines, songs from the 80's, bad jokes and funny stories. But ask me my phone number from my New York home (only gone a year) and I can't remember it. I can see faces from 2nd grade but no names, and please do not ask me to remember any but a handful of my college professors (don't even bother with Grade School). While cleaning out my parents basement after it had flooded, we found a box of my stuff from college. In it were letters (no e-mail back in those days) to high school friends, sweethearts and family members. I opened and read a bunch, however one disturbed me. It was from some girl I couldn't remember but liked me and I had obviously liked her as I found several more from her. I had visited her at her college and she had come to mine visiting her friends and stopping in to see me several times. We apparently called each other and planned a trip together but for the life of my I can not remember her or her face. I looked in some old photo albums and even asked the wife if she remembered her and she said no. Kinda freaked me out and still bugs me. The mind is very strange.

The Swap

I've been married for 12 years and dated my wife for a while before that. That is why this weekend was a little strange. After all this time we decided we wanted to try swapping. I don't remember who was first to suggest but we both went along with it. At first it was strange; similar but definitely different. I was a little uncomfortable at first, the body didn't fit right, strange positions, different views, but soon I adjusted and relaxed. I think the wife was having similar problems but adjusted quicker than I. I think she didn't mind but I had a few problems with it and told her so the next morning. The end result is no more swapping for this couple. She is to sleep on the right side of the bed and I on the left. It has been that way for 12 plus years and will be that way till the end.

The KFC Incident

In the drive thru at my local KFC this event occurred, and is represented here as best as I can recall:

SpeakerBox: Welcome to KFC/Taco Bell can I take your order.

Me: Yes, I'll have the stuffed burrito and a dr. pepper....

Crazy Man From Car in Front of Me Now Standing In Front of My Car: What did you do to my bumper?

Me: Excuse me?

CMFCIFOMNSIFOMC: My bumper, look what you did to it!

Me: Dude, I am just ordering my food, what are you talking about?

Crazy: Do you have insurance, I hope you do for hitting my car.

Me: I didn't hit your car.

Crazy: You didn't hit my car and scuff my bumper?

Me (still in car looking at his bumper): Dude that is a black scuff, and I am driving a red car, I didn't hit your car.

Crazy: Look at my fucking bumper man. This is a fucking Cadillac!!!

Me: Hey, hold on, easy there. (In hind site at this point this man has me rattled, I drop the f-bomb in confession at church and if you ask my wife I am not the most sane person when it comes to confrontation, usually I would have been out of the car and in this guy's face, whether it was smart or not and usually I act on the side of stupidity, so this guy must have been freaking me out.) I didn't hit your car.

Crazy: Give me your information or I am calling the cops.

Me: Go ahead and call the police.

Crazy: You telling me you didn't hit my car?

Me: I didn't hit your car, now call the police.

At this point he jumps in his car and moves forward as the Drive thru line has advanced, he leaves his door open and lays rubber and moves 2 feet.

Crazy Man Now Back Out of his Car And Next To Mine: You knocked me forward 4 inches when you hit me.

Me: Dude, even if I accidentally bumped you in the drive thru I think I would have felt knocking you forward 4 inches, I didn't hit your car, I am just ordering lunch now please back off.

Crazy: Give me your information or I am calling the cops (He now has his cell phone out and pen and paper ready).

Me: Call the cops, fine here's my info, Blank Insurance number *******.

Crazy: Let me see that, you're lying to me...

Me: I am not showing you my card.

Crazy: Show me your info or I call the cops.

Me: Call the cops, please. You know I want your info.

Crazy: You want my info now, give me your name or I'll call the cops.

Me: Call the cops and give me your info.

Crazy then jumps into his car and drives up to the window and gets his meal and drives off. I get my lunch, the window lady gives me a WTF look and I drive off. The Crazy is now standing in the path of my car to get to the main street, and approaches the passenger window. I cracked the window.

Me: Dude I want nothing from you, you want to make a claim, fine try to make a claim just get the fuck out of my way.

And with that I drive off.

When I get to work I call my insurance company and ask them what this guy can do now that I stupidly gave him my policy number. They put an alert on my account and will call if anything occurs. Then I called the local police department, on my agents suggestion, to get their advice. After I told them the story, they suggested calling my police department if I felt this guy might come to my house to beef up patrols in my neighborhood. They also said they record and keep these phone calls for 10 years, and if anything occurred that my version of the events were now on record with the Indianapolis Police Department and they could provide a tape of it given the date and time of call, which she noted for me. I then called the KFC Manager and asked if they had a Camera out back to record the Drive thru, she said it only recorded the window but she saw what had happened and said she stuck her head out the window when called by her workers and was yelling at the guy to get in his car and move along (this is when he 'burned rubber') and was ready to call the cops but he left. I thanked her and hung up.

After telling this story to co-workers I responded as follows:

1. While I never saw a weapon, the guy just freaked me out, and no I never got out of the car cause that would have been ugly (remember my not so smart confrontation choices)

2. I didn't drive away cause if he did call the cops, I would have been the one fleeing even thought I did nothing. Plus the drive thru is one of those you can't leave until near the window.

3. I didn't have my cell phone or I would have called the cops, he never did.

4. I gave him my info to get him to back off, which he started to do then continued to come at me after he got it.

That's it, the KFC Incident. I'll let you know if anything develops.

Death to PC (no not the computer)!!

Enough is enough!!!

I am done with Political Correctness!!! This would usually fall under my annual Christmas Rant about Christmas vs X-Mas. This is the Christmas Season, not some bland generic Winter Season, or Winter Solstice, but Christmas. Black Friday would not be Black Friday without people buying CHRISTMAS GIFTS. They flock to Target or Walmart or Costco to buy CHRISTMAS Lights and CHRISTMAS decorations. Landscaping/Gardening Shops have a successful off season selling CHRISTMAS trees and CHRISTMAS wreathes. Local Choirs, orchestras and Theater Companies sell tickets to CHRISTMAS shows, CHRISTMAS plays, and sing CHRISTMAS carols. And for the love of God people, I go to my sons CHRISTMAS Concert to hear Silent Night, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Joy to the World and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. If you do not celebrate the birth of Jesus then do not participate. Enjoy the festivities and celebrations of your faith and have fun, but DO NOT deny me the ability to enjoy mine!!

Everything you do everyday will offend someone, somewhere. I am sick to death of it. If what I say or do or believe offends you then do not interact with me, do not listen to me talk of my holiday season, sing my carols; do not look at my house with my lights and reindeer and Christmas tree. But this goes beyond Christmas. This goes to everyday life. Some people feel that if it is not good for one it is not good for all, or if it offends one then noone can do it. We see it in the schools were idiots have banned Dodgeball because it is too violent, where one school has banned girls from doing cartwheels cause less talented kids might try to do one and get hurt. Little League teams do not keep scores because no one wants to lose. Towns can not put up Nativity Scenes and school must use Diversity Trees as not to offend Jews, Muslims, Atheists and Kwanzities. People are suing to remove the word GOD from our Pledge. This is insane.

The beauty of our country, which makes it the envy of others, is our freedom to do what we will. Unfortunately many have taken that to mean the freedom to force our will on others. It has already infiltrated our schools and texts books and our kids today are learning filtered history. No mention of God at the first Thanksgiving, focusing on slavery as the sole cause of the Civil War (while State vs Federal government rights was the main cause and most Northerners could care less what had happened to the blacks of the time, it made for a good moral rally cry).

I am done living life in fear of offending others (not that I really ever had) by what I say or how I believe. If I offend and someone call me on it, I will explain my beliefs and if they cannot respect them then too bad, back off. And this is not the same as being racial or crude but having to do with core beliefs. Not dropping the n-bomb, or gay bashing. And we better take control sooner than later or our children will all be playing sit in a circle for 20 minutes and do nothing during recess and learning how their parents played Livestock People vs Migrational Native Americans when we were growing up.