LAND OF THE LOST

Immigrant Caravan

As the immigrant caravan turtles its way up to the southern border, we are trying to find solutions on how to keep these people out. What we don’t ask, even though we know, is why would a mass of so many people just abandon their country and risk everything on the slim hope of maybe hitting the lottery, the chances are probably the same, of maybe getting a humanitarian visa. While my reaction or how I would handle this type of mass exodus would be different, the current administration is more security minded. I agree that protecting our citizens from any harmful events is the duty of our government, but in the age of global everything (warming, manufacturing, economics, security, affairs, markets, technology, internet) why does it seem that these central american countries are lost to us.? It would be easy just to put the blame on the United States but isn’t there other organizations that can also supply support? NATO and the United Nations, which have done so much good all around the world, are peacekeeping entities and have in the past intervened in situations that are not similar but are exactly like this. I’m not referring to adopting these people into their countries but setting up talks with the governments of these countries and figuring out solutions. Why is it that central america isn’t getting the reactions some of these other countries have gotten? I believe that the U.S. should lead a NATO or U.N. peacekeeping mission into this region, we are members of both organizations. Maybe with the new class of congresspeople coming in, they can ask these tough questions and pressure these methods into existence. My feeling is you can’t treat a broken leg with aspirin, we should find a real solution for some very real people in desperate need of support. Let’s trying adding global empathy and responsibility to the long list of global suffixes. Not that some of these entities haven’t already, we now need it in central america. This post is not about agreeing with my position, it’s about trying to recognize that there is a problem and, as a global community, finding the best solution to an ever growing problem that has seen good people displaced and expatriated by criminal elements.

LIVING WITH SPINAL DEFORMITIES

Ruptured-disc-diagram-final_800x

If anyone else has had these problems before, they know exactly how it feels. I was at the gym, working on my rehab for an already ailing back when I bent down to pick up my boxing gloves and felt what seemed like an electric shock settle in my lower back when my disc ruptured, I didn’t find out until 3 days later. I remember falling on my face, waking up 5 minutes later to a pile of drool and one other person there, playing with their cellphone, before an old man walked in and started to do some kind of high kicks and dancing around. It was a weird day. The old man kept looking at me and kicking, like he knew I just obliterated a disc in my lower back and was showing me what he could do as I had trouble standing. I got up, finished my workout cycle, just because **** ****, albeit in a crap load of pain and left. As I left, the person on the cellphone was still there, I guess setting a world record on fruit ninja and the old man was still doing his best imitation of the rockefeller dancers. The pain was definitely more than just a pin prick.

Here are three simple ruptured disc exercises your doctor may recommend

Ruptured disc treatment exercises are a simple but potentially overlooked method of addressing a ruptured disc and relieving symptoms. Setting aside time to do stretches and exercises as a form of treatment for a ruptured disc is important, as is being mindful of your daily activities and their effects on your body. For example, sleeping on your stomach puts a lot of strain on the neck and back, possibly aggravating the symptoms of a ruptured disc. Sitting also creates immense pressure on the lower spine. In addition to heightening your awareness of your daily activities and their impact on your back, specific exercises can help stretch the muscles that support your spine and take pressure off the sensitive area around a ruptured disc.

Ruptured disc treatment exercises you can perform at home

There are many simple stretches you can do to loosen up your core and back muscles. Here are three that can be easily done in the comfort of your own home, but make sure to get your doctor’s approval before starting any new exercise program.

  1. Lower back stretch. Lay on your back on the floor. While hugging your knees, gently rock side to side.
  2. Cobra pose. Laying on your stomach, prop your body up with your elbows. For a deeper stretch, raise yourself up onto your hands while keeping your pelvis on the ground.
  3. Cat-cow pose. While on your hands and knees, look toward the ceiling, stretching your neck and arching your back so that your stomach stretches to the floor. Inhale and bring your chin to your chest while arching your back outwards so your stomach moves toward the ceiling.

Hold each of these stretches for several seconds and repeat between 5 and 15 times. If at any point you feel pain, stop immediately and contact your doctor.

Daily measures to implement as ruptured disc treatment

In addition to the above exercises, traditional aerobic activity can help relieve ruptured disc symptoms. Going for a daily walk or swim are two easy ways to increase blood flow and strengthen your core muscles, which can take pressure off your ruptured disc and improve your spine health. Other exercises such as biking, yoga or Pilates can also improve strength and flexibility in your neck or back. Always remember that when trying a new physical activity, clear it with your doctor, start out with small amounts of time and low intensity before gradually building yourself up.

Conservative treatments like exercise, medication, rest and hot/cold compression help many patients find relief from the symptoms of a ruptured disc but they don’t work for everyone. Surgery may become an option if pain persists after exhausting other treatments. To learn more about the advantages of minimally invasive spine surgery compared to traditional neck or back procedures, contact Laser Spine Institute today.

Ask one of our dedicated Spine Care Consultants for your no-cost MRI or CT scan review* to determine if you are a potential candidate for one of our procedures.

NY TIMES: DAILY CONVERSATION WITH ABIGAIL SPANBERGER. INTERESTING MODERATE POLITICIAN

abigail spanberger

Listening to her speak, it’s easy to see why she won. She thinks her answers through and qualifies her answers with good old common sense. She seems to be a diamond in the making. Talk is easy. I hope she can achieve her goals. If she can win in the oppositions backyard then, maybe…. hmmm… I’ll wait 4-6 years before I know for certain but maybe….

I just liked listening to her talk. Mrs. Spanberger was funny, interesting and smart, all at the same time. All that’s left to see is her ability to get the job done, won’t expect too much in the first two years, and her ability to bring people to the center, which means breaking ranks when it’s the right thing to do.

Religion

religion

With the Justice Department embarking on a Religious freedom initiative, you kind of wonder what they mean by that. Does it mean that they stand with the baker from Colorado that refused service to a gay couple, that wanted a wedding cake, on religious grounds or do they mean that they stand with the gay couple’s right to be treated equally under the law? What we have to realize is that some of these religions don’t allow you to recognize any other God but the God of that religion. Does that mean that the baker can now refuse service to non-believers or people that believe in other religions? The slippery slope of exclusion based on religion is one thing that we should avoid.

First, there is no religion that says that people should be discriminated for any reason. All religions say that you must be tolerant and show compassion. To refuse to treat a person like a person and claim it on religious grounds is contradictory to what the religion is all about. All people sin and in if you choose to discriminate on only one particular sin, which I don’t really know if it is or is not, then your being biased. When you start adopting rules on religion and how you can treat each other because of it then you might as well head back to the days of the crusades. Another reason to truly eliminate your wrong beliefs of religion as an excuse of proper or legal behavior is because you will then excuse people that commit horrendous crimes because of their misinterpretations of religion, 9/11, and since this country has a freedom of religion, their argument is going to be as crazy as the bakers. There is a very good reason to separate state and religion, it’s so people don’t act out and then point to obscure, misunderstood and misinterpreted verses in a religious book and use it as an excuse to be crazy.

By the way, the baker was wrong.

And, I believe that’s there only one God and that he came down six different times or however many true religions there are, in the form that the people that he was preaching to could accept and acknowledge. It’s crazy to think that an all powerful and omnipotent God couldn’t foresee the dangers of making one true messiah that only looks like one portion of the population. All religions basically teach the same things, in the core of that religion, so why would you think that Mohammed, Jesus, Buddha and whoever else would be different people but not the same person as an image that is acceptable to pass his message on to the people he /she is preaching to? Well, I’m not a religion major and I’m sure that there are arguments to debunk my belief but I’ll wait to hear them, again my Religion Degree comes from Crayola, who by the way all share the same box peacefully.

THE EGO, THE ID AND THE SUPER-EGO

Ego
This is a great equation, it’s basically saying that the amount of knowledge(which is equivalent to intelligence and/or happiness) is whatever your ego will allow it to be. The lower the ego the happier you will be.

The id (Latin for “it”, German: Es) is the disorganized part of the personality structure that contains a human’s basic, instinctual drives. Id is the only component of personality that is present from birth. It is the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses, particularly our sexual and aggressive drives.

The ego (Latin for “I”, German: Ich) acts according to the reality principle; i.e., it seeks to please the id’s drive in realistic ways that will benefit in the long term rather than bring grief. At the same time, Freud concedes that as the ego “attempts to mediate between id and reality, it is often obliged to cloak the [unconscious] commands of the id with its own preconscious rationalizations, to conceal the id’s conflicts with reality, to profess…to be taking notice of reality even when the id has remained rigid and unyielding.”The reality principle that operates the ego is a regulating mechanism that enables the individual to delay gratifying immediate needs and function effectively in the real world. An example would be to resist the urge to grab other people’s belongings, but instead to purchase those items.

The super-ego (German: Über-Ich) reflects the internalization of cultural rules, mainly taught by parents applying their guidance and influence. Freud developed his concept of the super-ego from an earlier combination of the ego ideal and the “special psychical agency which performs the task of seeing that narcissistic satisfaction from the ego ideal is ensured…what we call our ‘conscience’.” For him “the installation of the super-ego can be described as a successful instance of identification with the parental agency,” while as development proceeds “the super-ego also takes on the influence of those who have stepped into the place of parents — educators, teachers, people chosen as ideal models”.

*Intelligence, which is measured in happiness, is based on realizing reality and keeping that pesky ego (which is a combination of the id and the super-ego) in check. You can’t jump over rivers, you’ll make it about 5-10 feet before splashing on in, not everyone woman loves you and/or thinks you are God, and we do exist when you are not around and we can be happy and you can’t fix everything. But I will admit that your magic is strong, but it’s just magic, without it, you are just as ordinary as everyone else. Realizing that now will make you a happier person when they take the magic away. Cellphones on…….. and, as you are saying to yourself right now, he’s not talking about me, I am talking about you, but don’t worry, your ego will make it about me, and for that I give you a…………..thumbs up  

AnecDOTe

American airlines

American to Allow Early Boarding for Passengers With Nut Allergies

Just a couple of questions

  1. Does the person have to be certified nuts or can family members just say he is,
  2. How can you spot the nut flying
  3. If I’m the last to board, am I the nut

I mean, these days, who isn’t allergic to crazy

Woman Sues Airline After Being Raped on Flight……link

 

Abortion.

EXPLICIT LANGUAGE AND DETAIL. NOT FOR MINORS READING.

How to start this topic? I guess I’ll start with my experience with the dreaded “a” word. When I was 17, I was dating this beautiful, at least to me, Peruvian American woman, she was a year younger, and we had a scintillating 3 images (5)year relationship full of teenage drama and emotional roller coaster rides and  lots of sex. Janina, I’ll just use her first name to protect her identity, was my first love and my first lover. I met her at an Antioch, a religious retreat, when I was 16. We exchanged numbers and started a slow moving relationship that lasted through several small break-ups and one very scary moment. In the summer of 1988 or was it 89, in the summer of a long time ago, I sat with Janina, at her house, at the kitchen table. She had called me earlier, on a landline, cellphones back then were too expensive and texting was putting a note on a rock and throwing it through a window, and had stated that she needed to talk to me. She told me that she thought she was pregnant and that she was late. My heart started to beat fast and I stupidly said “but how” the first thing that came out. She just looked at me like I was a buffoon, “what do you mean how, you weren’t complaining while you were doing it” she raised her voice. Oh yeah. I was thinking to myself, this can’t be, I have so many things to do. I have to go to college, I have to get a job, I have to climb Mt. Everest. That’s it, I’ll climb Mt. Everest, she can’t find me there. “How about an abortion?” I asked her. I really did not want to be a dad. I was nervous and it was the first thing I thought of, after the Mt. Everest idea, that is. Which if you think about it….. no, that was a stupid idea. She said she didn’t know what she wanted to do, her first thought was to go live with an aunt in Florida, “an Aunt in Florida?”

We decided that we were going to go to Planned Parenthood to get a pregnancy test. She was old enough where she didn’t need her parent’s consent. After about a day of wondering, I got hold of a car and I drove her to Planned Parenthood where she entered and got a pregnancy test. I prayed that day. It might have been my most religious day of my life. Our father who ate in heaven, hollow be thy tree, thy kingdom come , so did I and that’s why I am in so much trouble. Please help. Amen. I waited in the car until she was done. She came out of Planned Parenthood and got in the car that I “borrowed” from my parents. She looked at me and my heart sunk, “pregnant aren’t you, shit, I knew it”. She said “No, I’m not”. My memory is fuzzy about what happened next. All I know is that the sun was brighter, the day was more beautiful, life was amazing, there was a God, for right now, and he answered my beautiful prayer. The problem with me is that I was young and did not know how to handle that situation. Time would take care of that problem.

Eighteen years later, in Elizabeth, N.J., the same exact thing happened. This time God must have had better things to do, because I used the same exact prayer that I did back than. Different woman, different result. Cata, abbreviated first name, told me and I said “Abortion?” and she gave me a look that would freeze the national debt and turn it backwards “or whatever you want”, I continued, ” I support you in whatever decision you make.” Different reaction. Time.

I Think I got more reliant on prayer then I did safe sex, but that is one heck of a prayer, if I do say so myself. Nine months later, I’m  a PROUD dad of a bouncing little person and I couldn’t be happier. The most AMAZING thing that happened to me in my life and one of the few things I would risk my life for without thinking twice. Truly a miracle.

So why are so many people against abortion? I was all for it until my child was born and then I was confused. At that time though, I was financially sound and had a really good job, that paid very well. I could afford the miracle, or surprise, better yet a Miracle Surprise. I was and still am extremely happy that Cata was the mother and was against having an abortion. But not everyone is or was as lucky as me, back then.

Money is a serious issue when thinking about having a child. Children are expensive. They want food and clothes and do this horrible noise when you don’t give them that stuff. And they grow!! So the clothes you just bought them, none are any good. Money down the proverbial drain. And you can’t just stretch the clothes to make them bigger, no, they rip. What a money maker for a business.

Then there is housing. You have to live somewhere. You could live with your mother and father but then you have grandma knows best situations which could be tricky. No, you really need your own place for your wife to yell at you for watching football while the little one is learning to walk and break lamps. And when you high five them for their achievement, there’s mom with her hands at her waist “Turn that TV off”, I swore that was my name.

Then there is doctor bills. Good jobs have sucky insurance, so sucky jobs have nothing. You spend and spend and spend. So why abortions you ask? Sometimes people are overwhelmed or not ready for the responsibility of being a parent. Then you have people calling other people that are on public assistance, deadbeats and parasites. So they say, I’m not going to be one, I have to abort, then those same people are at the abortion clinics calling you a murderer. You see the double edged sword of making people feel like shit. You chastise them for one thing and when they try to correct it, they chastise you for the other. You can’t win with some people. I call those people, People in dear need of a blow job. Or a good lay, I don’t want to gender discriminate. Or maybe a hot enema, you see, that’s gender neutral.

Pregnancies happen, even if you use protection. The only real protection from getting pregnant is abstinence. Let’s face it, that isn’t going to happen very often. You can try to teach your kids abstinence but they are going to wonder why and go do it. It’s hard decisions. You have to teach them safe sex, trust me on that one.

So, are you? A murderer? I have been lucky in my life to not ever have had to find out what it feels like to have had a girlfriend or wife who had an abortion, that was pregnant with my kid anyway. I’m telling you that prayer is 99% effective.

The definition of murder is Murder occurs when one human being unlawfully kills another human being. See Homicide. The precise legal definition of murder varies by jurisdiction. Most states distinguish between different degrees of murder. Some other states base their murder laws on the Model Penal Code.

That did nothing to help me decide. When are we human beings? Is it at birth or conception or sometime in between? Some people say when the heart starts to beat and others say when you can live outside the womb. I say I’m not in the position to decide, Thank God, again. But I do have an opinion. I am a christian, if I am any religion. And the good book says judge not unless ye be judged or judge not unless you are a judge and there is a jury present or just stop judging people. If you have to make a decision of aborting because your situation is that you have no support, no money and that the child would be lost in a state institution and you would rather it be in heaven, believe me that might not be a bad choice. And if you decide to abort, then I say to you that God will judge you at the pearly gates and you will answer for what you have done, but I’m not going to judge you, neither here or ever, because I’m not him and it’s your choice.

And I’m sure you will go through your own personal hell after having your first kid and thinking back to the last abortion, hopefully only one. I strongly believe that God is pro choice because he wants to be the one to send you where you need to go and also because he gave it to us, choice, the only animal alive to have that power. That’s if you believe in creation and not in evolution. I am 50/ 50 when it comes to religion, and just in case I am wrong, I can show God this article as proof, if it ever comes to that. You see God, I believed in you, half of the time.

Now if you thought God is going to send you to heaven after you read that last paragraph, then good for you, I hear God is forgiving if nothing else, but if you thought hell, then you are feeling guilty and there is really nothing left for me to do to you that you aren’t doing to yourself.

My thought is that anyone thinking about an abortion should have a class before aborting, just non-medical emergency abortions, and be forced to volunteer at a pediatric clinic, then if you still want to abort, it is your choice. It actually may be the more humane thing in certain situations, I really don’t know.

I’m calling my child right now and telling him/her that I love him/her, my child is just one gender, just in case you are worried with my statement. I just don’t want you to know which one, that’s sexist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTELLIGENCE IS MEASURED THE WRONG WAY

Intelligence

Have you ever been told that you were a dumb dumb, a slow poke, or just plain stupid because you couldn’t figure out an answer to a question or riddle or you took an IQ test and didn’t do so well or maybe you were in the bottom half of your class when it came to grades? Well, I haven’t. I always did well when it came to academia. I usually was in the top of my class and I liked it. It made me feel good but was I intelligent, not necessarily. People decided to measure intelligence by how much education you have. The questions asked on an IQ test, while not seemingly difficult, sometimes requires a person to have a certain amount of education to deduce them. I recently took a Wonderlic test, a political pundit just said that all candidates for the Presidential office should take one prior to becoming President, and I did well (I’m not running for President). I scored a 45 but I argued with my computer for 12 minutes because one of the questions that it asked was misleading. The question, “which does not belong” the answers were A. Dentist B. Optometrist C. Orthodontist D. Dental Hygienist. I chose D. Dental Hygienist, the reason was because that was the only profession where you weren’t considered a doctor as all others are considered doctors but the answer was B. Optometrist because he was the only person that didn’t deal with teeth. I argued with my computer for those 12 minutes. I berated my computer and it, like a good puppy, didn’t say a thing back. I felt bad afterwards and I gave it hug and told him that both made sense. So I unofficially raised my score to a 46. Does that make me intelligent, maybe a little crazy, but not intelligent. Let me just say that I didn’t really argue with my computer, I just looked up all the professions to make sure I was right, and I so happened to be correct…. so I raised my score. With comedians getting there jokes brought up these days and used against them, I wanted to set the record straight. The reason I bring this topic up is because so much is being made of intelligence, in the realm of educational smarts, and other qualitative factors are being ignored.

I feel intelligence or the most intelligent person on the planet is the person, that throughout his and/or her life, smiled the most, enjoyed the most and sacrificed, in terms of having to do things that they don’t feel are right, the least to get there. That is my definition of the most intelligent person on the planet. While different things make us happy; some love academia while others love the beach, while others love being in love, the tool you use to measure this, quantatively, is the amount of time you spend smiling in your life and truly enjoying yourself or being happy without having to give away your moral beliefs of what is right and wrong. I, personally, was setting a record in this. I was doing well financially without having to give up my heart felt beliefs, dated some very interesting women, married maybe the most sought after woman, not because she was the most sought after but because of her truly amazing heart, and had a child that was the funniest and happiest kid that you might have ever seen in your life, i.e. at 4 years old I dropped a dish and broke it and he looks at me and shakes his head and says “what a douche” and at 8 years old he said that he was thinking of changing religions because the constitution allows freedom of religion and yom kippur or hannukah was around the corner and he heard that you get gifts every day for 10 straight days and change back when Christmas came around. I told him he can choose whatever religion he wanted but not for the gifts.

Unfortunately my tides turned and am now actively seeking my intelligence quotient again. The point being is that I went from being one of the smartest people in the world to being, maybe, the dumbest son of a bitch alive but I didn’t get any dumber education wise, in fact, I was going to school to finish up my degree, I just simply lost what made me happy or had it taken away, however you want to look at it, it’s not there anymore. Now, I’m not sad or depressed, luckily, what internal mechanisms that I was born with allow me to handle these situations and try to find a solution on how to regain the title as the smartest person in the world. The trek hasn’t been easy as obstacles have presented themselves along the way but I seemingly have a grasp on them for now.

In articles you read, you see politicians being challenged on there intelligence but how dumb can that person be if he/she is in the position that you want. I, for one, thought that I had a better chance of hitting the lottery on the same day that I challenged Lebron James to a game of one on one while I played in a wheelchair blindfolded and winning both at the exact same time then Donald Trump had of ever being elected President. So did half of the people, the ones that didn’t vote for him, which by coincidence are the same ones that challenge his IQ, so you can reasonably assume that when you challenge the smarts of a politician you obviously voted in the other direction, so how can you challenge him on his intelligence. The challenge will come, when at the end of his Presidency in either 2020 or 2024, he says it made him the happiest man alive or it didn’t. Most Presidents say that the best day of their lives are the day they enter office and the day they leave. Everything else in between is a test of who you are as a person. I, for one, didn’t vote for President Trump, but like I have written prior, I hope he proves to be the best President in our history and the person that succeeds him, is even better, why would you want anything else, if for nothing else, for yourself and your family. That would truly be an amazing trend, not unlike those amazing cat videos that everyone posts on twitter or snap chat. I think that too much emphasis is placed on raw human intellect and not enough on conceptaulizing the problem in front of you in different ways or, simply put, using common sense to reach a solution that some people tend to over think.

Albert Einstein, long considered the smartest man to walk on this planet wasn’t even the smartest man of his era, not according to his grades. His phenom or brilliance was presented in thinking outside the box and applying a different approach to a problem when a solution couldn’t be found. Oddly enough though, everyone said that he enjoyed life to the fullest. Maybe that’s why he’s the smartest man alive.

Another good example is if you ever heard of the story of the truck that got stuck under the bridge, engineers came over and were trying to figure out how to raise the bridge when a child came over and said that maybe you can let the air out of the tires. While that may be a fable, it is long considered a tale of how intelligence, when presented in a group of similar thinkers, can actually prevent you from getting the right answer. That’s why, in politics, I feel that having someone propose an opposite idea of what the group is considering, just to see what the outcome would be, is essential in getting the right answer, which would make everyone happier, right?

A person once told me, that due to my current situation, that 90% of the people were against me and that only 10% were for me. So after I did some calculating, inversing the the sine and cosine wave tangents and measuring for probabilities and unforeseen weather events and then adding a little magic, I found out that whatever makes that 90% dumber, or unhappy, will actually increase my IQ, or happiness, exponentially.

 

ANECDOTe!

Life sometimes emulates sports. You can see everything in two rounds that you will see in life. In the end of the tenth round, the most important take should be that to appreciate the person that made you a better person and have to overcome the challenges that you can sometimes face.

Arturo Gatti (April 15, 1972 – July 11, 2009)