Forget the Election For Now...We Have Bigger Problems!

I've been sitting at my desk since the New Year wondering what my first 2008 post would be. I wanted to write about the Dems and Repubs and their respective Primary Battles, but frankly, I couldn't muster up the energy to do it. Enough people are writing about it and I know I will eventually add my two cents.

I thought that I would start off this 10th day of 2008 with what I See and what I Know is about to happen. America is four weeks away from throwing out their New Years resolutions. Big Deal? Not Really. But there is one resolution that Parents across America are failing and giving up on. America’s children are obese and heading towards Type-2 Diabetes.

Parents across America pledged on New Years to get their kids healthy, only to stuff their pantries with garbage. Parents across America pledged on New Years to get their kids healthy, only to allow them to play Wii rather than play outside. Parents across America pledged on New Years to get their kids healthy, only to give them money to buy Ice Cream at the school cafeteria. Parents across America pledged on New Years to get their kids healthy, only to allow them to sit and watch TV for hours on end. Parents across America pledged on New Years to get their kids healthy, only to lead by example and stuff their faces.

Children learn by example. I am a 35 year old male with two children (5 and 2 ½). My wife exercises at the gym 6 days a week. I am a Type-1 Diabetic (not the obese kind). I was always active, but never did I “work out” until August of 2007. I got a trainer in October of 2007 after I saw the results of working out on my own. I work out six days a week. I have lost three pant sizes, built muscle, look fit, and feel great. More importantly, my son and daughter ask me when they can go to the gym to “get healthy”.

My wife and I are leading by example. I know that down the road I will not be able to make decisions for my kids. They will chose what to do when they get to college and then after. Hopefully, by doing what my wife and I are doing now, we set a foundation for them to expand on. Maybe, just maybe they pick up an apple vs chow down a bag of Doritos at age 25. I am not asking that they be perfect. I just know that both of my kids are predisposed to being overweight. It is in my family.

Yes, we do give our kids sweets, but we limit them. We teach moderation rather than indulgence. We eat great food that happens to be healthy for you. We are setting them up for success later in life.

Parents of America do not fail your children! Help them succeed or their weight will be an undue burden to themselves and our country.

16-0? Means Nothing Without the Super Bowl

I am a huge Dolphins Fan. I cannot tell you how much it pained me to see the Patriots come back to win against the Giants last night. I do however, have to tip my hat to them, as they finished the regular season undefeated. Yes, they played two more regular season games than the Dolphins, but they still have to finish the deal.

In my opinion, if they don't win the Super Bowl all they can say is that they went undefeated during the regular season. BIG DEAL! They have to win the whole SHABANG or the season becomes meaningless. All the records, all the awards, all the Pro Bowl spots means nothing. If they don't win it, they will be the best team to not win a Super Bowl.

PERIOD!

Tigers Can Jump!

Seriously, what in the world is wrong with people. While we still do not have all the facts, it appears that the Tiger that escaped from the S.F. Zoo did in fact leap out of the enclosure. The more important question is why it happened. Police and Zoo officials believe that the man who died was taunting the Tiger, which caused the Tiger to become agitated, which caused the Tiger to try and kill its prey. Well, guess what...the Tiger won. Who cares that the wall was 7 feet shy of what it should have been!!! The bottom line is that these men were egging-on a Tiger....A TIGER!! Look, I am no animal rights activist, but what good can come of taunting A TIGER? A good laugh? A great story to tell? Well they have their story now!

This is like the kid who played by the fire-ant hill, kicked it a few times and didn't understand why fire ants were all over his shoes biting him. Or how about the kid who kept poking the dog through a fence only to have the dog leap the fence and bite the kid...Animals are Animals and they are unpredictable.

Heck my 2 1/2 year old is unpredictable. Last night my wife was cooking pancakes in a skillet. My wife told her it was hot and if she touched it she would get burned. My daughter then just to miff my wife touched it and burned her finger. She'll never do that again! I bet the boy who poked the dog and the kid who got bit by ants won't do again what they did either.

I guess some of us have to learn our lessons the hard way. Yes, this man didn't deserve to die, nor did the other men deserved to get mauled, but it would have never have happened if there was a level of respect between man and beast. Again, it was A TIGER!

Wonder if this one will pop up in the Darwin Awards?

2007 Bush's Best Year?

I read an article today by Lawrence Kudlow in the Washington Times regarding Bush and the great 2007 he has had. Here are some highlights. I have posted the link to the article at the bottom in the event you want to read it in its entirety.

• Troop Surge = pass
• Safe from Terrorists = pass
• Economy Outperforming Expectations = pass
• Credit Crunch and Housing Downturn = fail
• Consumer Spending best in 2 years = pass
• 3% True GDP growth, 3% Consumer Spending growth, 3% growth in After-Tax-Inflation Adjusted Incomes = pass
• 2% core inflation = pass
• 100K a month new jobs = pass
  
• Congressional Battles = pass
  
• SCHIP
• AMT Tax
  
• War Funding with No Pull-Out

Bush heads into 2008 with a strong 2007 behind him. He has weathered the Dems assault on him and will make it a point next year to tie pork-barrel spending back to the Dems. Kudlow might be right when he says that if the Republicans play their cards right, they might...just might return as the party of Low Taxes Low Spending. If that happens, all bets are off for the White House and Congress...

Link to article

The Gettysburg Fakie

I remember back in elementary school the emphasis put on Social Studies, History and of course Physical Education. At a very early age I knew who this nation's first President was, who said, "I have a dream..", and who delivered the Gettysburg Address. It was important to my parents that I had heroes to look up too, Washington, Edison, Franklin, Paul Revere, Lincoln, Reagan, and the best running back of the current time, Earl Campbell.

As I grew older, my understanding of current events and history grew as well. Subjects such as the Holocaust, Space Shuttle Challenger, Iran-Contra, Vietnam, Pan-Am over Lockerbie, the Super Bowl and The Cosby Show were part of our regular conversation at the dinner table or family functions.

I am now the proud father of two amazing children. I have a 5 year old son and a 2 1/2 year old daughter. I think often of how to explain the "Who's Who" in America and the World. There are subjects we have crossed and others completely ignored. There are things that my 5 year old knows well (geography, time, beginning reading, Tiger Woods, Dolphin's End Jason Taylor, parts of the Torah) and then there are things that we just have not had the time to cover.

This brings me to the focus of this article. In a world where Jamie-Lynn Spears' pregnancy dominates the headlines, I then have to have great concern for our society. I wonder if future generations (my children included) will be bothered with knowing who our first President was, but instead want and need to know what a "Fakie", "50-50 grind", or a "tail-slide" is to the world. In the event you do not know the terms I have just stated, they are terms used in the world of skateboarding. One would commonly hear them at the X-Games or The Warped Tour.

Still Confused? You bet you are. You see, I knew some of the terms, I have been to these events, but never in my life did I think they were more important than American History, World History or say Moses! I want my children to learn the important things first. They will get the rest over time. They will have their passions, their hobbies, their beliefs, but it was and still is important to lay a solid foundation.

This Holiday Season, I have the distinct pleasure of delivering to you what I call "The Gettysburg Fakie". It was given to my new "friends" at the local mall. In the world of slang, what you will read below is the ultimate "SNAP!" and shows why America is in serious trouble.

My family and I were at the mall doing some shopping. My wife and daughter were in one store looking at clothes. My son and I wanted no part of that, so we ventured to the other side of the section we were in and went in a sporting goods store. All over the store there were footballs, baseballs, basketballs, snowboards, jerseys, hats, etc. As we moved towards the middle of the store there was a counter with two people. There was a male clerk working on a skateboard and a groupie girl on the other side talking to him. They were both very "Goth-Looking". Earrings, Mascara, Spiked Hair, all black clothing, and chains.

As we got closer to the counter, my son looked at the display and what the clerk was doing and said to me, "Daddy, what is that man doing?"

I told him that he was working on the wheels of a skateboard. My son then turned to me and said, "Daddy, what is a skateboard?" I showed him what a skateboard was and explained to him that it was a sport that people played.

As we were walking away from the counter, I heard the groupie girl say to her clerk friend, "Can you believe that idiot kid didn't know what a skateboard was?"

The clerk replied, "Yeah, ridiculous!"

At first, I was steaming mad. I wanted so desperately to go back to them and give them a piece of my mind. If I wasn't with my son, I might have done that, but in an effort to set a positive example for my child I took the high road with a "slight" alternative path. I kept thinking over and over if I was the problem. Have I provided my five year old with the best knowledge to succeed? Am I teaching him the proper way to treat people? Have I taught him what I thought were the most important values and lessons? Does he have a basic foundation on why America is great? The answer to all of these questions was "Yes!". I believe I have done my job successfully so far. I now wanted to prove it.

On our way out of the store, my son and I stopped by the skateboard counter again. This time, I interrupted their conversation and asked them if I could ask them both a question. They said, "Sure." so I proceeded.

I asked the clerk and goth girl this very simple question, "Do either of you know who the 16th President was/is?" There was a look of bewilderment on their faces. It was obvious they had no clue. Both of them admitted they had no idea.

I then turned to my 5 year old and asked him the same question. "Sam, who was/is the 16th President of the United States of America?"

He said with out blinking and eye, "Abraham Lincoln", and I just smiled.

As we were leaving the store my son says to me, "Daddy, can you believe they didn't know Abraham Lincoln was number 16?"

If I, or my son have any say in it, America might just be O.K.