Esta Es Mi Vida

First, I’m sorry i’ve been away for so many weeks. Work is heavy, and last week was the holiday so I really didn’t want to touch, or look at my computer. Sleeping in everyday till at least 10 (sometimes as late as 12:30) was glorious and I could use another solid week like that where I don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn for some reason or another.

Second, Happy belated Thanksgiving!

I don’t think wishing someone happy thanksgiving can be belated, that is unless thanksgiving is all about the food, the day off of work or the shopping which for me it’s not. It’s spending time with my family, being thankful for what i’ve been blessed with and taking a moment to reflect on the year and just be thankful for the little things…..my family, my health, my employment status just to name a few.

Third, Alert!!!
America…..We have a problem.

And THIS is it

And

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27955316/

NEW YORK - Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify who trampled to death a Wal-Mart worker after a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down.

Criminal charges were possible, but identifying individual shoppers in Friday’s video may prove difficult, said Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, a Nassau County police spokesman.

Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries. The store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening.

Police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the Wal-Mart doors before its 5 a.m. opening at a mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the employee, identified by police as Jdimytai Damour, to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion.

“This crowd was out of control,” Fleming said. He described the scene as “utter chaos,” and said the store didn’t have enough security.

Dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out to help Damour were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said. Shoppers stepped over the man on the ground and streamed into the store.

Damour, 34, of Queens, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 6 a.m., police said. The exact cause of death has not been determined.

And

Is this what the holiday season is about now?

Shoppers returned to Toys R Us in Palm Desert on Saturday, a day after two men shot each other dead in front of terrified Black Friday customers.

An armed security guard stood watch outside the store and another was inside. A police car patrolled the parking lot. Many employees came from other Southland stores because some regular clerks were too scared to return, said an employee who asked not to be identified by name.

The dead men were identified by Riverside County sheriff’s officials as Alejandro Moreno, 39, of Desert Hot Springs and Juan Meza, 28, of Cathedral City. Two handguns were recovered at the scene.

The shooting occurred about 11:30 a.m. Friday after two women got into a fight. After the women began arguing, witnesses said, Meza pulled out a gun. Moreno also pulled out a gun and started chasing and shooting at Meza, witnesses said. Frantic shoppers either dropped to the floor or stormed out of the store.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said no one was arrested, but he would not identify the women. Their dispute was not part of the investigation, Gutierrez said.

Many shoppers Saturday were slightly skittish.

Valerie Criscuolo, 26, of Twentynine Palms went to the store with Marcus Noil and their two sons. It was their elder child’s birthday, and the family planned to go to Chuck E. Cheese and Toys R Us.

After hearing about the shooting, the family almost canceled its plans, but the security guards reassured them, Criscuolo said.

Ryan Tidd, 13, of Sky Valley went to the store with his parents but seemed nervous. As his mother, Michelle, perused video board games, he asked her if the gunmen could return.

“They can’t come back,” she said, although that didn’t seem to reassure the boy.

Tidd said the situation was surreal.

“You gotta be kidding me,” she said. “A shooting at a Toys R Us?”

These two events are sickening reminders that humanity has happily replaced caring and respect with greed and selfishness. This shouldn’t be a holiday/weekend/time for a “deal” but a time for family, out pouring of reflection, joy, compassion, & kindness to your fellow man. Nope. Its about saving a few hundred bucks on a TV.

The Walmart tragedy boils down to scarcity, IMO. Scarcity cuts two ways: scarcity of goods and scarcity of dollars in the pocket. Walmart being the largest and arugably deepest discounter profits BIG TIME from both of these and could probably care less about what happens in thier “parking lot” or “front door”…….now if people had starting running out of the store carrying TV’s and blu ray’s I can promise that the Walmart story would’ve been about people getting shot and arrested for theft by store security….believe it.

Not even going to touch the Toys-R-Us story being that all of the details aren’t known and it we don’t know exactly why it started. Other then it being shameful, and sad.

B.Price

Haven’t had much to say as of recent…..well maybe not so much that I haven’t had anything to say but more so that I haven’t had time to post up what I wanted to say. However I couldn’t let a week go by and not point out the obvious here.

The past seven days have been very big for my city, and in case you’ve been living under a rock the above picture is a illustration of what’s been going on, and arguably one of the most historical and relevant times in our existance as human beings…not just our modern day society, but our existance. I’ll be able to tell my kids one day that I was apart of history, I was there like their grandparents before them during the civil rights movement to see history in the making.

Now grant it, there are some issues/policy changes that have already surfaced that I don’t agree with, but I plan on reserving judgment until this man (who’s checks the same box as I do on official government documents that ask what your “Race” is) is able to get his feet and the ground and get into the Oval office. He’s not the guy I wanted a year ago, but given the choice we had it was a “no-brainer” on who would be president and I will give him a shot to prove himself, and back up what he’s been saying he would do over the past 18months. He’s surely got his work cut out for him.

Below I have posted up some of what I consider the most touching photo’s from the past year that i’ve found and have been sent to me. I hope and pray that this man can begin the process of bringing about a new era in the United States. To whom much is given, much is required President Obama…….

B.Price

On with the same theme as Thursday I wanted to discuss the topic of the executive office/politics, but this time lets put ourselves in the drivers seat……

What I mean by this is what would you do if you were president? How would things be different? How would you have done things or be doing things now? This topic came up Thursday when a rather eccentric fellow blogger and I were having a conversation about if he was president…..well lets just say his behavior would be along these lines

Me personally, well some would say that I’d be just as bad as him even though I don’t believe that i’m nearly as bad….but then again i’d be much more frank then probably most of the presidents in recent memory have been. I’d like to think i’d be a cross between Dave Kovic (Dave) and Tom Dobbs (Man of the Year) with of course a twist of blackness.

So lets get to it, and since this is my topic that I feel pretty passionate about i’ll start. But please feel free to answer in whatever way you like, however long, short, detailed, or for whatever topic you might choose.

1. Would you continue in this war until Iraq is a stable democracy?

Yes. Plain and simple. We are already there, if we pull out now then the country, it’s government, infrastructure, economic engine will all completely and utterly fail. The country will fall into the hands of extremists and terrorists, the lives of 4000+ would’ve been given for nothing. And even though it’s a mess, and I don’t agree with our reasons for being there I’d deal with it and try to turn what was one of the biggest mistakes made in the 21st century.

2. What would be your first act as President and why?

I would first and foremost address the American people….Not with this “My fellow American’s garbage” But with a “Look….I’m not your average President, i’m sure you all are aware of that because you elected me. I wont be having a bunch of press conferences telling you what’s going on, why things are such and such. No, that’s what my press secretary is for, my cabinet heads are for. I have more important things to do like run the country. You’re paying me $400, 000 per year to do this not including expenses, camp david, Marine and Air Force one, and exclusive access to the most powerful military in the world. America should be modern day rome, and in roman times she was feared by her enemies and respected by her allies, the next 4yrs I will be getting us back to that statue. As for the media, yeah my personal life is non of your business and if you think it is, just test me. Youve got ten minutes for questions, after that you’ll see me at the state of the union.”

3. Would efforts to combat global warming be increased under your administration?

Meh……For the most part yes, although some measure’s would be scrapped immediately, as well as more research to be conducted in how many other times in the history of the globe has this taken place and if this whole global warming thing has been over hyped. We’d be sure it isn’t just a cycle from/of nature that has been happening since time and we are just now only able to record it’s effects on our society/way of life.

4. Before the social security system runs out of money, should increase social security taxes to maintain benefits, if not then what?

I would honestly have no immediate answer to this question, it’s something that I would have to set up an non-partizan indenpendant task force to research what the to three solutions be. Then perhaps poll the American people between the ages of 18-40 (the ones who are going to be effected by this) to get their opinions and then go from there. I mean this is America….for the people, by the people?

5. Should America should take stronger and more consistent measures against the presence of illegal immigrants in the United States?

That’s a tough question. I would say that my first goal would be to ensure the security and protection of our borders. Doing this would require more deployment of manpower, technology, and intelligence as it relates to border crossings. Honestly, building a fence is a bit extreme, however there does need to be some type of control of the influx and access points to get in across the border. So far as the people that are here, honestly as long as they don’t have a felony criminal record in their country or origin, venereal diseases, or are a host of some unknown strain of bacteria I would push for them to stay once they crossed the border.

So those are my answers, i look forward to seeing you all’s. Again, feel free to alter or add the questions.

B.Price

Alright folks, so as much as I’ve attempted to avoid this I really just can’t anymore. I’m not drawing a line and picking a candidate yet because…..well frankly the guy that I liked didn’t get in, so right now i’m still riding the fence for eh, the next 30days or so. However, when i see absolute stupidity/incompetency or where I might notice things that literally and utterly confound and perplex me I just can’t sit on and act like they don’t exist.

1st) I’ve been reading over a lot of really interesting blogs lately trying to broaden my perspective on this bailout i’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that this bailout for the most part is garbage. What they (the government) are doing is basically rescuing all of the companies and organizations that made terrible, and risky decisions way back when the housing market was booming. You know what that is? It’s me asking everyone in my building complex (it’s about 1000 of us) to give me $1,000 so I can clear out my debit after i’ve gone out and financed a $150,000 classic car that I was going to restore and turn around to sell for $200k……well I couldn’t sell that car because the market for it dried up and now I cannot afford the note……what do you think those people’s responses would be?

Don’t get me wrong I’m fully aware that this is indeed a bailout of the American economy. And that If banks continue to feel the pressure that that are currently have/do then they will continue to pull back on lending, the economy will become extremely stagnant and the ripple effect from that will be enormous. But it still doesn’t make me feel any better that i’ll be carrying on my back the price tag for their bad decisions.

Michael DeVault said it best

This meltdown has already inflicted its damage. If you have a decent credit score and your 20 percent downpayment, you’ll still get your new mortgage. If you have a good pay history on your credit cards and a job, you’ll still be able to get your ultra-HD Big Screen T.V. on 180-days Same As Cash at your friendly neighborhood Best Buy.

If, however, you’re a meth-addicted crack whore working a minimum wage job at McDonald’s with a 325 credit rating (and let’s face it, if you have a pulse, you score a 300), then guess what: no, sweetheart, you will not be able to buy your $450,000 McMansion in Tuscan Hills Estates.

2nd) That debate tonight……a small child would’ve been able to identify not only who was in control but who got butchered who wasn’t, and who came out the clear victor. Although, why in the heck did this get so much press?? I honestly couldn’t care less about what the vice presidents views are, no matter how powerful that office is it is subordinate to the west wing.

B.Price