Saturday, December 18, 2010

What Would You Do?

There is a news show on ABC called "What would you do?" The show acts out scenarios of people doing questionable acts. The unsuspecting public are unaware they these people are actors and are being tested to see how they will react to these situations.

One episode really bothered me and got me very upset, to the point of having tears in my eyes. I'm not really sure why it bothered me so much but it did, so here is the scenario.

It started out with a well dressed woman walking down a busy street in Newark, NJ and she collapsed, and within 4 seconds people were there to assist her. Then they changed it to a homeless looking man with a beer can in his hand. No one helped the man. People actually had to walk around him to get by. Finally a real homeless lady came by and she was trying to get someone to call an ambulance. Twenty six people walked by before she convinced someone to call 911.

In April 2010 a real homeless man saved a woman from an attacker with a knife. The woman ran away and the homeless man was stabbed and layed there on the sidewalk bleeding. People just walked around him and went about there business. It took an hour before someone called 911 but it was too late the man bled to death.

People just do not want to get involved these days and it is really disturbing that they can't take a minute to make a phone call to save a persons life. It seems that people do not put any value on a homeless persons life. What has become of huamanity and morality. I know if you ask someone what would they do? They would tell you they would do the right thing, but would they really. Here is a video of the TV show and also of the one that really happened in New York where the man actually died.



Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Should NYJ's Coach Sal Alosi Be Fired?

On December 12th 2010 the New York Jets were playing Miami Dolphins. During a punt return one of the Dolphins players (Nolan Carroll) was running full speed down the side line just out of bounds, when a NYJ coach (Sal Alosi) stuck his knee out and tripped the player. Sal Alosi has been suspended for the rest of the season without pay and fined 25,000 dollars, but is that enough? Or is it too harsh?

I would think that if the refs seen this happen he would have been ejected from the game and rightly so. I find this type of behavior from a coach despicable and disgusting. This goes beyond unsportsman like conduct, It was just plane dirty and in my oppinion criminal.

He did give a public apology and he himself said it was an inexcusable act. He said he used poor judgment and was not thinking. Well the fact that he could do something like that without thinking means that this sort of behavior comes naturally and really has to put thought in it to do the right thing. I expect much more from a coach, he is suppose to be a mentor and lead by example. Maybe i am being too hard on him thinking he should be fired just for one moment of instinctive bad judgement, but he really could have ruined that players career. Sometimes you really have to pay for those spurr of the moment decisions. I would be interested to hear if anyone agrees with the punishment he got or feels it was too much or not enough. Final score was Miami 10 NYJ 6. You can watch this ugly offense below.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Don't Ask Don't Tell

What is with people being against gays in the military? Are they afraid that they can,t fight as well as straight people? I personally don't care if someone is gay or not as long as they can do the job. We fight along side with allied militaries, which i believe all have openly gay personnel. We don't seem to mind as long as they are from another country. Maybe they think someone will peek at them in the shower, but really do they think that every gay person wants them, that would be like thinking every person of the opposite sex wants them. I think what it really comes down too is they are homophobic and have some issues of their own.

I think in this day and age anyone should be allowed to serve their country, men,women and gays. Besides if we started a draft that would be one less thing that people could use to try and get out of duty. Gays are already in the service, and it seems that as long as they don't let anyone know then it's fine, so how does being open about it change anything.

I served in the army in the 70s and i knew a couple of guys that i thought might be gay but i did'nt think too much about it they were good people and i trusted them to have my back,if we went to war. So we should just let them in and be done with it, there are much more important things to worry about in this country without wondering about what goes on in someones bedroom.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Cheating at Online Poker

Online poker has become very popular the last few years. I have been playing online poker myself for a couple of years. I think I’m pretty good at it, but certainly no professional. One of the things that I have noticed is wins and losses goes in streaks. I have had very good nights, and I have had bad nights. That could be just coincidence just like playing your weekly games with the guys. Another thing I noticed is some very strange plays from opponents, for example say I have pocket aces and before the flop I make a very big raise and get called, then the flop comes two nines and a deuce come up, now I have two pair I go all in and again I get called. A three and a jack come on the turn and river but my opponents hole cards was a nine and a deuce which gives him a full house. anybody that knows anything about poker would not have played that hand with such a preflop raise. This sort of behavior happens a lot with online poker which sometimes you just have to wonder if it is possible they can see my cards. So that brings to the point of cheating.

After so many experiences of this happening I started searching the internet about cheating online poker and was amazed to find several software programs out there for cheaters. One way of cheating doesn’t have anything to do with software and is an old technique used in regular live poker games and that is called collusion.

Collusion is where you have 2 or more people at the table and signaling what they have and the best hand will stay in, so in online poker they can just be on the phone or an instant messenger to let their partners know what they have.

Now for the software that can be used, one is called bots. You have a program that will play just about play perfect poker for you, which takes away from playing a bad hand on a gut feeling. Another program claims it will show your opponents cards to you and even show you the cards that will be coming next before they are delt so you will know as soon as you get your cards if you have a winning hand or not.

Now I’m not sure that any or all of this has happened when I have been playing but just the fact that it is possible for people do these things makes me think twice about ever playing online poker again.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Why can't I own a Canadian

This is a letter posted on the internet a few years back just thought it was worth putting out there again

October 2002

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a east coast resident, which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative:


Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:

When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:19- 24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.


Here is the West Wing version of this i hope you will enjoy.


Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Has modern electronics made our life easier?

These days you wonder how you can get along without your cell phone, laptop and internet service along with your 200 channels of cable TV. Aside from the TV these items i think were intended to make life easier and save time. by not having to stay home to wait for an important call, you can go out and keep other appointments, shopping or what ever else your normal day entails. But it seems that the more gadgets we get to help us we still don’t seem to have time to do everything we need to do. When i was a kid we had 3 tv channels a transistor radio and we had to make our own games to play outside. But as life progressed and got more hectic new electronic devices came out to make life easier like the electric typewriter. Society still demanded that we become faster and more efficient in our daily lives, so the more gadgets we get the more demands are put on us to become multi-taskers. it kind of reminds me of when you have a 2 car garage and its not big enough for all your stuff so you build a bigger garage and what happens, you put more stuff in and it is no longer big enough there will never be a big enough garage and we will never have enough time to do all the things we need to do. So set your DVR and watch your prime time shows a 3 o'clock in the morning, program your coffee pot so it will be ready when you get up and don’t forget to stop for gas on the way to work, you know just swipe your card, pump and go. If life gets any easier I’m going to have to watch my TV shows while I’m driving.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Get Naked at Playalinda Beach


     Playalinda Beach in Titusville, Florida is a clothing optional beach, actually the there is 24 miles of undeveloped shoreline and 4 miles of drivable beach. There is only a small section that is clothing optional and that is at the north end known as lot 13. It is against county and state laws to sunbath nude but rarely enforced.

     So one day my wife and me were in that area and was curious about the beach so we went there and the parking lot for 13 was full we had to park about 1/2 mile away and walk. we weren't prepared for the beach, no bathing suits, (not that we needed them anyway) or towels. So we get to the clothing optional area and i was really surprised how many nude people were there. We had our clothes on and it seemed like everyone was starring at us, we sort of stuck out. We were both nervous and i wanted to swim nude but had reservations about it. So we are just sitting there on the beach with our clothes on enjoying the view. Then an older gentleman walked by and approached us, I guess he could see how uneasy we were and told us "don't be bashful just jump right like the rest of us" we laughed and talk for a few minutes and he walked away. I asked my wife if she wanted to get nude but she was to shy but she encouraged me to do it. After a few minutes of getting my courage up i finally stripped down and went for a swim. It was an exciting experience. Being naked in public were no one gave a second thought and swimming and feeling the sunshine were don’t usually shine gave an exhilarating feeling of freedom. We didn’t stay long that time but we plan to go again and this time my wife plans on doing it too. So if your looking for a fun and exciting day at the beach Playalinda is the place to go, oh and i heard the fishing is good there also.