Lets take a look at this Debate

We are a year away from the next Presidential election. You know what that means, time for people to start choosing sides again. Tonight, the second Republican Debate took place, this one at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. This was a debate that I think could actually be taken for face value because of the addition of Rick Perry into the mix. So I want to take a look at the candidates and their performance in tonight's festivities. There were 8 candidates on stage tonight: Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Michelle Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Herman Cain, and John Huntsman. It was billed as a debate between front runners Perry and Romney, with the others there to field questions as well...really I think it was the beginning of the end for Hunstman, Santorum, Cain, and Gingrich. In the end, there just aren't enough votes to go around, and if Republicans want to retake the White House next year, they are going to have to pull their votes together.

I'll get the superlatives out of the way first. Winner of the least questions fielded/least responses goes to Herman Cain. I think he has some good ideas, but he just doesn't have enough of a following to warrant the time for the questions. Best quote of the night is a tie.

Newt Gingrich: "I for one, and I hope all of my friends up here, are going to repudiate every effort of the news media to get Republicans to fight each other, to protect Barack Obama, who deserves to be defeated. And all of us are committed as a team, whoever the nominee is, we are all for defeating Barack Obama." (Newt is trying to form "Team Evict Obama") It didn't work very well because Herman Cain jumped out in the very next response and called out anyone who came to mind.

Mitt Romney: "We have some differences between us, but we all agree this President's gotta go.The President is a nice guy, but he doesn't have a clue how to get this country working again."

Worst quote of the night has to also go to Romney: "First, we need to put up a fence..." Think we've seen that Mexican immigrants might know how to climb over a fence Mitt...

The winner of "Mr. Popularity" has to go to Rick Perry, who lead the way fielding 11 total questions and 5 rebuttals for a total response time of 15 minutes, 10 seconds. And surprisingly enough, he also had the lowest average response time, meaning that he was the only one who really followed the rules of the debate. He was also the only candidate to be featured in every multiple shot of the debate with 4 2-shots (Romney/Perry), 1 split screen(Perry/Santorum), 1 split screen(Perry/Gingrich), and 1 3-shot(Perry/Romney/Bachmann).

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Most Likely to have his face on the Side of a Milk Carton Award goes to, and this one was actually pretty close, Herman Cain, who spoke for just 5 minutes, 40 seconds while fielding only 5 questions and forcing himself into 1 30-second rebuttal.

The rest of the response count/time goes like this:
Mitt Romney- 9 questions fielded, 2 rebuttals totaling 11 minutes, 58 seconds
Michelle Bachmann- 8 questions fielded(although I am counting the Libya question twice) and 1 rebuttal totaling 9 minutes, 11 seconds
Ron Paul- 7 questions fielded, 1 rebuttal totaling 9 minutes, 27 seconds
John Hunstman- 7 questions fielded, 1 rebuttal totaling 9 minutes, 1 second
Newt Gingrich- 5 questions fielded, 1 rebuttal totaling 6 minutes, 54 seconds
Rick Santorum- 5 questions fielded, 0 rebuttals totaling 6 minutes, 12 seconds

The Late to the Party Award goes to Newt Gingrich, who we didn't hear from until 17 minutes, 44 seconds into the debate.

The actual meat of the debate does not really coincide with how much each person got to talk. While Governor Perry was defending his executive order to mandate HPV vaccinations for 12 year old girls, and Mitt Romney tip toed around his actual job numbers while he was Governor of Massachusetts, Newt Gingrich had his usual strong debate performance, at one point calling out the national media for protecting President Obama by trying to turn Republicans on each other.

Michelle Bachmann successfully shot herself in the foot by regurgitating the same old rhetoric about strong leaders and repealing Obama care. I would guess that she might know something about putting people to work with a total of 28 children having grown up in her house...I wonder how many of her congressional aides are Bachmanns...

Herman Cain stuck to his guns and would not be drawn into helping the other candidates promote their agendas. He would only answer questions by talking about his own plans, which would be a great strategy if his plans didn't rely on the retirement plan adopted by Chile 20 years ago...Not sure Chile is the economic model that is going to get us out of our problem. I guess it couldn't hurt us anymore though.

John Huntsman used his short time to prove that a President needs to have private, public, and international experience. Then made sure we knew that he in fact had successful experience in all three areas. If Huntsman had a little more money, he might actually be a threat in this race. I would not exclude him for the possibility of a VP candidacy though. He seems to be poising himself for a run.

Rick Santorum was just there to add a pink tie to the proceedings. He had a few comments, but mostly piggy backed on Newt's policies, at one point out right giving Newt the credit. I don't see him lasting past Thanksgiving.

Ron Paul is a very crazy man. But he doesn't care and he will tell you exactly what he thinks. Just because he's crazy, doesn't mean he doesn't have some good ideas. I just don't think you win a national election by telling people that you want to take away ALL government mandates immediately, and offering gas for 10 cents a gallon. He's got the money to take this thing to the end, I just don't know if he has the gumption to take it all the way.

Getting down to the two candidates that this debate was really highlighting, Rick Perry had a good start talking about his 4.9% job increase in Texas, but took a few blows when asked about the poverty rate/graduation rate in his state.

There was one part of Mitt Romney's responses that caught my ear...I think Mitt read my blog the other night because he quoted my "Localizing Energy Production" Plan almost verbatim. So, thanks for reading Mitt! But he did fail a bit when arguing his job growth rate while Governor of Mass. and really didn't add anything new to the table.

Perry says social security is a ponzi scheme. Romney says it isn't. That's a push.

The one thing that we can really agree on about last night's debate, is that everyone on the stage is committed to the fact that, though they may not agree on who SHOULD be the President, they ALL agree that Obama should NOT be the President. All in all, it was 98 minutes of a debate that had 70 minutes of 8 candidates trying to sell us on their policies, and 28 minutes of Brian Williams doing his best to push his own agenda. I guess the thought of an unbiased debate is just too much to ask for. I'd like to see a debate where Bob Johnson, American Citizen, is the moderator. And the participants actually get equal time to offer their responses to the same questions. Until this field gets reduced, the debates will continue to not show us a whole lot of poll movement.

 Well, I had more to say about this last night, but I simply did not have the energy or the time to do so. I just finished watching the President kick off his re-election campaign in front of a joint session of congress...so now I will redeem myself by watching the open of the 2011 NFL season.

Thank you again for reading and please look to the right of the page and follow my blog to get e-mail updates about new posts. Also Like A Bit o' Truth on Facebook to stay up to date on all my blog related activity.

Beating a Dead Horse

Blah Blah Blah...that's pretty much how I feel about the state of things right now...in the government, in the nation, in the world. And no matter what people think, it is NOT all Obama's fault. It's not all the Democrat's fault. It's not Bush's fault, or his daddy's. This is the fault of every American who wanted to find the easy way to make a buck, and buy a house, and buy a car and basically live the American dream without working for it. It took decades. But it finally caught up with us. The constant borrowing, the constant spending, the constant begging others to bail us out of the situation that we got ourselves into.

We owe China over $1 trillion dollars(plus interest), Russia $115+ billion, and countless others almost as much... We have amassed what was once believed to be an impossible amount of money...upwards of $15 TRILLION. Maybe it really is time to step back, take a good long look at ourselves(collectively AND individually) in the mirror, and figure out how to start getting out of this mess. There IS NO quick fix to this one. It's a problem that's going to take many many years to dig ourselves out of. So how do we begin?

We need to start looking within our own boundaries. The answers are there. We have so many natural resources that can be utilized. Gas, oil, coal, wind, water, nuclear energy; We have enough natural resources in our own borders that could supply us with electricity, heat, and fuel to last us several hundred years. I think by the team we use it all up, we MIGHT be able to get ourselves out of the red. If we were to cut off imports of oil from the middle east and bring production in-country, not only would it be a big ole' middle finger to OPEC, it would create jobs, revenue, and product that would drive our economy for years. It would create self-sufficiency. It would create market stability. Yes, it would piss off all those hippies who are scared of eating processed foods and would rather pay 10x as much for organic products that nutritionally have no additional value. But if that is the worst thing that happens, looks like they might have to be the first of many people who will have to bite the bullet. Just like any mess, we got ourselves into it, and we are going to have to accept the consequences.

But localizing energy production is only going to be a start. In order to deliver jobs, we are going to have to start trusting people again. Now I realize that sometimes, when you trust everyone, you're going to get burned every now and then. But this whole practice of denying people jobs simply on the basis of their credit rating is simply bad for American business. Many people have poor credit ratings because they were uninformed when they signed mortgages, and car loans, and student loans, and credit cards. Some simply made mistakes. But who of us haven't made mistakes in our lives. It should not be a lifetime sentence of poverty because when you were 21, you decided to max out your credit cards, while you were in college, and now when you graduate, you can't find a job because of your poor credit rating, and so you can't repay your student loans, and so your credit rating will continue to suffer. It is a vicious cycle that creates poverty and crime. Stop worrying about peoples' past so much, and focus more on what they offer to the growth of your company, and in turn, our economy.

Next is something that no one really wants to hear, but it is unfortunately necessary to help us come out of this hole. Taxes. There are many ways to go about levying taxes. But we are currently doing it the wrong way. Taxes corporations only hurts the bottom line. It causes them to make cuts and hiring freezes that slow our economy to a crawl. Simply raising the federal income tax by a few percent would bring in billions more in available funds. In return for repealing the corporate tax, every corporation would be able to(and possibly required to) add substantially to their workforce. It's not really a means of making them money. It is a means of freeing up their money so that it can be spent in research and development(which creates jobs). It can be spent on production and sales(which creates jobs). It can be spent on marketing and other services that will also...that's right boys and girls...create jobs.

Stop bailing out people who don't deserve it. Stop sending money places where it does more harm than good. Instead, reinvest it into the people who earned it. The American people aren't lazy, or ignorant. They are simply lost. They need someone to show them the way. It is going to take a VERY long time, but it can be done. It takes patience, and willingness to fail. Failure does not equal the end. Failing is simply a finding one more way not to succeed. Eventually...you find the answer. At that time, all of that hard work will pay off.

I am an American. I was a soldier, and I am and always will be a patriot. I am NOT willing to watch the country that I love fail.

Worry for us?

So the past few posts have had more of a political agenda I suppose...but this one is aimed at the media...specifically...the Northeast Media(New York, Philly, DC, etc...). So yesterday...there were a few earthquakes in the country. 2(I believe, but possibly 3) in Trinidad, CO, and Golden, CO, and 1 in Virginia. Now, before the one in Virginia happened, the two in Colorado were big news seeing as, any earthquakes NOT on the San Andreas are typically newsworthy. But the second the Northeast earthquake hit, Colorado became not only unimportant, but it was almost as if no one even knew they occurred. I mean hello? Yeah, it's crazy that there was a sizable earthquake in Virginia...but what about the fact that there were at least 3 sizable earthquakes in different parts of the country within an 8 hour period??? I think  THAT is the newsworthy story to follow. What does this say to us? Anything that happens in the NE is more important because that is where the main media hub is?

Lets take another example. There is currently a Category 3, possibly soon to be 4, hurricane headed up the east coast. So for the next week at least, 80% of the national news coverage is going to be, "Look at as evacuate" and "Worry for us, what are we going to do?" Now granted, I am from Pennsylvania, and so I will have some degree of worry for my family and friends...but do I think it is a bigger story and warranting more attention than any number of storms that hit the gulf coast EVERY year? No. When Katrina hit the coast, I had just started dating my wife. She told me she was from Mississippi and that a storm was headed that way. There was no big hoopla before the storm, why? Because it is something that people down here deal with on an annual basis. When the storm hit, there was about 3 days of coverage because of the size, but after that, you just about never heard anything about the devastation caused on the Mississippi coast. All you heard about was, poor New Orleans...I have my own thoughts about people who build a city below sea level, next to a large body of water...but I digress...What I'm saying is, when a storm hits down here...it's run of the mill and thus not deserving national coverage. But when a storm hits the East coast...every media outlet from South Beach to Quinnipiac is up in arms like it's the end of the world...It's a storm. It's not the first, and most certainly will NOT be the last. Board up, stock up, and get through it. But don't make me watch 2 weeks of wall to wall about every tree that gets uprooted and every dog that gets lost...because while you're all worried about the storm...don't look now, Obama is gonna talk and the market will drop another 2k points...I think that sums it up.

All I'm saying is, the media, however biased and consumer driven they may be...still has a responsibility to inform the public. That means that every earthquake and hurricane that hits, no matter where, deserves an equally quality coverage. That means that every hate crime, white on black, black on white, white/black on asian, etc...deserves equal footing. It's all news...but just because it doesn't fit into a specific demographic or a specific region, it doesn' get nearly as much coverage...and THAT is a travesty.

It Doesn't Pay to be Uninformed...

We are living in an historic time. Something most people thought they would never live to see, is probably going to end soon. Three years ago, the people spoke loud and clear..."We want change!" They said. And with that change, came the first African-American President. I wish I could say that is the only thing Barack Obama will be known for, but unfortunately, this is not the case. So then it got me to thinking, how does a man, a junior congressman, who hasn't even really cut his teeth in the political arena yet, become the leader of the free world? Well it's a simple answer. The majority of Americans who vote, are simply uninformed voters.

This is pretty much how it went. You had no clear front runner in the Presidential race, so it really was going to come down to voter turnout. Unfortunately, because of the circumstances of the election, we had more people voting for the mere purpose of making history and less for the purpose of electing the best man for the job. Add to that, many of the people who are now complaining about our President, are the same ones who blindly cast a ballot just to see him win.

So here is the problem. How do we inform people who don't care to be informed, but want to complain when their elected officials fail to accomplish anything? People who will vote for someone because they like the "Idea" of change, but have no idea the sacrifices it takes to make change happen? 

There is no real easy solution to this problem. We live in a time where everyone has some feeling of entitlement. And though certain things are defined by our constitution as inalienable rights, that does not mean that we get to coast. It is most definitely our right to vote. But it is our responsibility to gather every bit of information available, which living in the "information age" means there is a lot to learn. And only after gathering all of that information, studying it, analyzing it, and coming to an informed decision, should we be allowed to cast our vote for the best possible candidate. But even then, the job of the American citizen is not done. Because after we vote, it is then our job to hold our representatives accountable for the decisions they make in our names. This is the only way America works. If you let the politicians run wild, they will make decisions that benefit them and their contributors. When that happens, even the informed voters become null.

This is my country. I will be informed. I will be vigilant in my journey for knowledge. And I will most definitely, be watching. And when my leaders make mistakes. I will be there, to hold them accountable. There are tough times ahead. Times when hard choices will have to be made. And I want to be sure that the people I elect, are the people who are willing to make those choices, even if it means their political careers suffer for them. We all want change...but that change comes with a price. If we are not willing to pay that price, then we will simply continue on this same downward spiral. And THAT, I am not willing to do.

It Doesn't Take an Expert...

I like to believe I am a fairly well educated man. Some college, but mostly educated through immersion. I read, and watch, and listen...and absorb everything I can. But when it comes to the economy...I can't say that I am well versed in that beast. But even I know(mostly from studying our past), that when the market is flooded, it eventually must drain. A quick history lesson will show that in the early 1920's, a new kind of home built by the Levitt brothers became the quickest and easiest way to own your own home. They made entire towns out of these pre-fabricated houses, aptly naming these places "Levittown(s)." These towns still exist in name, mostly in the Northeast. Now the great thing about these towns was that it made it easily within many peoples' means to buy their own home. This in turn, flooded the housing market for several years. But what should have been plain to see, apparently wasn't...What happens when everyone then owns a home? The housing market dies almost instantly. The same thing occurred with cars. There really wasn't a need for multi car homes in the 20's. So once everyone owned a car, the auto industry also died. The simple rule we learned from the great depression, just because everyone can afford something, does NOT mean that everyone should go get it.

Bring us back to present day. It seems that the current economic experts failed American History, because a few years ago, they again found a way to let everyone own a home...this time though, they were much more careless. Adjustable rate mortgages that are affordable at first, then outrageous 6 months into the loan made it so people could buy a home, move in, then when they realized they couldn't afford it, just stop paying. Now this didn't bother the mortgage companies, because every time someone defaulted on their loans, there was always another sucker waiting in the wings to buy the same home on the same kind of ridiculous terms. This worked out well until the day came, when all of the people who did not have the means to buy a home had been foreclosed on, and the people who already had homes, were forced to pick up the slack. This meant that their rates would rise in order to pay for those who shouldn't have ever been approved for a loan in the first place.

I don't know how the economy works. I don't understand the stock markets. But I know enough to know that I sure as hell can't buy a house. Not now, and probably no time soon. I am also smart enough, not to try to live outside my current means. My bills are getting paid, which is more than I could say a few months ago. But that is because my wife and I recognized a problem, and found a solution. And now we get to start over, trying to save and work our way, once again, to that dream of owning a home.

Our leaders have failed us. They have recklessly borrowed money for years, knowing full well that they had no way to repay it. And every time the bill came in, they would simply borrow more to pay it. Well, just like in "The Real World" eventually, there is just no more money left to borrow, and no one left to borrow it from. So now we are in our current situation. With  a group of leaders that would tell you that we are not that bad off. That our financial woes are nothing to fear. They would tell you this because in the end, not a one of them actually understands what they have done to this country. They have seemingly turned us into a second-rate America. You know it is bad when illegal Mexican immigrants, are returning home to find work! This is no longer the land of opportunity. This has become a land of liars, thieves and conmen, only looking out for themselves and leaving a trail of destruction in their paths. On top of that, you've got the credit bureaus with their fingers in everything controlling the job market, the housing market, the auto industry, and pretty much just pulling their marionette strings in Washington.

They thought it would be a good idea to bail out the banks...to make sure that everyone's money was still safe. I cringed when that happened. You know what would have worked? Take just a percentage of that money, turn it around and instead of bailing out the banks, and the auto industries...bail out THE AMERICAN PEOPLE! It would have cost less, to pay off most or all of the outstanding debts of the people than it did to bail out a banking industry that continues to flounder. Because by paying off the debts, the banks are getting the money anyway, but people would be able to start spending again, thus stimulating the economy, thus continuing our tradition as a strong and prospering nation. Last time I checked, the money the government used to bail out the banks, was money they got from the American people in the first place. So why didn't we get a say in how it was spent?

Repeating history is not a new concept...but apparently it is also one that won't be going anywhere any time soon. As long as we have leaders who can't learn from the mistakes of their predecessors...we will continue to decline as a people. This blog has subsequently made me furious, so now I must got drink copious amounts of coffee and try to figure out how to save the world!

Who are our leaders???

There was a time when a military leader, or political leader, was known simply by recognition. They were cheered and praised. They were looked up to and followed. This is why they were leaders. How many Generals were known throughout the military and could carry a fight simply by their mere presence on the battlefield? Washington, Lee, Grant, Custer, Hood, Stuart, Patton, and more... What about Presidents who, while typically only portraits were available to know their face, would be known and praised by all who would see them? We live in a time in which everyone has access to just about any photo/video ever published. We can watch our leaders live, taped, in the same room, or halfway around the world. We can see and read EVERYTHING they say. And yet, they do not evoke the pride that those leaders of old did.

I was in the Army, met plenty of commanders who at best, were decent war fighters...but none of them ever made me feel that higher level of enthusiasm that I was looking for. I stood in the presence of 3 and 4 star generals, shook their hands, listened to them speak, and felt slightly hollow. I've listened to Presidents speak, really listened to their words, and heard nothing but the same ole crap that I've heard my whole life.

I've been touching on this a lot lately, but I felt it deserved an entry all it's own, because in the end, our leaders are what define us as a people. If they can't be trusted to inspire us, what good are they. The problem is, how do we find that one person who can rally a nation? Is it really trial and error? Must we be beaten down and broken before that person will come and rescue us? Or is it up to us as a people, to take control and rebuild our country from the ground up? This country was founded on the principle that the people can, given the opportunity, govern themselves and succeed. We have world class economists, who live here, yet we have more debt than every before in history. There is really something to be said about having too many hands in the cookie jar. I have never questioned the checks and balances put in place in our government. But lets look at this realistically.There are 100 members in the Senate, which is a good number. 435 members in the USHoR...which in my opinion is ridiculous...when could that many people ever really agree on anything that actually matters? Then, to top it off...even if these 500+ people can ever agree on anything...The President, 1 man, has the power to decide he doesn't agree and strike it down...Now add into this, all of the sub-committees that are created to make initial decisions before votes are even taken, do we even know who is running this country anymore? There is a mass of faceless, nameless, people who are telling us what to do and how to do it...

This is NOT the America that I want to live in. I long for a leader to come along, and take control. Tell congress what he wants, and not stop until it is finished. Tell our military leaders to get the job done, then, have the military leaders who have the wherewithal to accomplish their mission in a timely and efficient manner. You want to cut military spending? Stop fighting wars that can't be won against a faceless enemy who will never go away. Stop sending our troops to a barren wasteland, only to find out when they get there, that they aren't really needed. THE MIDDLE EAST HAS BEEN FIGHTING WARS WITH EACH OTHER FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS! Why do we think we are going to suddenly make them see the light? I am ashamed of what this country is becoming, and I am afraid of where it might end up if something doesn't change soon.

The American Dream

Go to school, get a job, raise a family, buy a house, live happy in the land of the free...It is something that people grew up with for years. This was the land of opportunity. Now I've heard people in the past few years spewing some Apocalyptical BS about how the American dream is dead. How we are no longer the greatest country in the world. Now of course calling anything the greatest something or other is mere speculation. But to live in a world where women are still stoned to death for adultery and millions of people die from starvation and disease, I'd say that living in a country that grants you the freedoms to pretty much do whatever you want, within reason...still qualifies THIS as the greatest country in the world.

Don't get me wrong. We have our problems. This much is clear. But don't mistake problems for pitfalls. So we live in a place where our leaders have no true sense of leadership; a place where our money has been pretty much rendered worthless; a place where people would rather pass the blame for their short comings in life, rather than accept the fact that they made choices that put them in whatever shitty position they may be in.

No the American Dream is not dead. It is VERY MUCH alive. But it won't just be handed to you on a silver platter. It is something that must be worked towards. It takes many attempts, failures, lessons learned and many more attempts. Sometimes it is achieved, and sometimes it is not. But not achieving the dream does not equate to failure. The American dream is not exactly as tangible as once thought. It has become more of a theoretical destination. Although, maybe it always was.

To live the American dream, one must simply pick a destination, learn the means to reach the end, attempt, fail, retry, probably fail again, attempt yet again...and if you have properly learned from your mistakes, it is quite possible, that you might reach your destination. But that isn't the end of the dream. The American dream can take you as far as you want to go. Once you reach your destination, you can choose to stay there, or pick a new destination, and start the journey again. In the end, it is all on you.

I think the American Dream is not only alive, it is exactly what this country needs to believe in again. We have no sense of ourselves. We have no capable leaders. No attainable goals. We strive to stay afloat when we should be aiming for higher ground. No one said America would be easy. No one said it would all fall into place. We pick the people who will run the country, then we criticise them when they fail HORRIBLY. Sometimes they deserve it, but most times, it is our own fault. We allow people to govern us, who outside of an expensive education and a law/business degree, have NO real qualifications. What this country needs right now is a good swift kick in the ass. The only way that will happen is if we realize that all of our politicians are pretty much the same. We NEED different. We crave different. We have to understand that the only way we can turn this ship around, is with a new kind of leader. One who isn't afraid to make the hard decisions. One who can lead by example and most importantly, lead from the front instead of simply stating a goal, then tasking it out to everyone else. I pray that this leader shows himself soon...because as long as we maintain the current course, we will continue to dream the unattainable dream.

A Fresh Start...

Here I am again. It's been a while, I've made some changes in my life, and yet, there is still so much that needs to be said. I started this blog because I had things to say. Things that I felt most people never take the time or the effort to acknowledge. The first time 'round, I think I got lost in my own ideas...it ended up being something I didn't want it to be. This time around, I hope to stay the course. So this is my fresh start...

There was a time when I truly believed that being honorable was the most important thing in life. Don't get me wrong, I still believe in honor, but I believe that there is more to it than just that. We all have our demons. Some big, some small. But everyone has a skeleton they must someday face. My demons have never been an easy thing for me to face. But I have learned that it's not necessarily the demons I have to be honest with, it's myself. It's the direction I allow my life to go. Knowing this, I have learned how to maintain a happy and productive life. The only thing that changes the direction of my life now, is my family. My wife and children, whom I would die for. They are the driving force in my life.

In the past month, we have left all we knew in Pennsylvania, and settled ourselves quite comfortably in Mississippi. We did this for many reasons. Amanda wanted to go home. She wanted our kids to grow up in a place that they could be proud of. As much as I love my home, Pennsylvania had become too...crowded...for lack of a better term. So we left for the coast... I have a job, we can pay our bills, we are finally in a place where we can feel like we aren't a burden. In fact, we are thriving.

There is so much happening in the world right now. Death, poverty, deception, and at the same time...it is really no different than any other time in history. All of the things that are happening right now, in our government, in our hometowns, and abroad...are all of the same things that have been going on forever. They may be different in design, but not in product. So this is where I will begin the fresh start of this blog...with my mission statement. I aim to shed some light in a time of darkness. To talk about the things that no one else wants to talk about, whether it be because they feel it is taboo, or just too scary. I see so much that needs to be said. Whether people listen is up to them. But I am so tired of everyone looking for someone to blame. This world is in crisis. But no one has anyone to blame for their misfortune in their own lives, but themselves. It is one of the things that I love about my wife... she has always admitted her mistakes and taken the heat for them. I truly admire her for that, and I wish that I saw more of that from others. This world needs a new kind of leadership. We don't need someone to take control of our lives, but to show us the path to take care of ourselves. We must become our own leaders. Learn from our past...so we do not once again, relive it. My family and I have our fresh start...now I aim to guide others in theirs.

''The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.''
-Mark Twain

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia. 30 some miles from the city that is host to the franchise that until a few years ago, was known as a losing team. The LOSINGEST team in the history of all professional sports. 10,000+ losses and counting. This may be the case, but my family has been season ticket holders for the fightin phils for 20 years. We, like many in this area, are diehards. We live and die with the scoreboards and the standings. To have a winning team, is a gift, and one we do not take lightly. 2 championships in over 100 years of existence, is not the greatest stat, but we love them.

So now I come to the meat of this blog. It is February. The snow has melted. The air is getting warmer. And there is but one thing on my mind. The smell of pine tar and glove oil. Stale beer and peanuts. Fresh cut grass, watered down dirt, the crack of the bat and the pop of the glove. It is baseball preseason, and though the games are televised, it is not the names that we are used to seeing. It is the players of tomorrow and those who we may never hear from again. It's numbers that look more liked defensive lineman than pitchers and outfielders. But it is truly so much more than all of that. It is the first real sign that winter is on its way out, and Spring/Summer is right around the corner.

Personally, I love watching preseason games. I like seeing young prospects making their argument for a spot on the team. Most of them will be relegated back to a farm club, possibly never to see more than a cup of coffee with a big league club. But some of them, will shine. And when they do, I will be watching, breathing in every magical pitch, every unexpected soaring home run, and every dream come true for these young 20 somethings that if for nothing more than a twist of fate, would be sitting in a classroom or an office somewhere, leading a normal life.

The players we see in spring training are possibly the most electric players we will see in the season. Because they are truly playing for their lives, they leave it all out on the field...and THAT, is something to behold. So bring on the fastballs, curveballs, and change ups...bring on the hit and run, suicide squeeze, double steals, and inside the park home runs...bring on the diving catches and picture perfect double plays...some call it boring, I call it, the most pure and exciting game ever played. Bring on Baseball Season, and warmer days to come!

R.I.P. Duke Snider
1926-2011