Tragedy, Hype and Indifference?

I grew up during the height of the civil rights movement and my parents raised me just as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King dreamed, by instilling in my siblings and I that we judge people on the content of their character, not the color of their skin. All three of my K through 12 schools were always fully integrated. They were naturally integrated because my neighborhood was integrated. There was no bussing because it wasn’t needed. Dr. King dreamed of his kids growing up in a world where his children would play with white children and no one would think twice about it. If Dr. King had come to my backyard or the vacant lots where we played he'd have seen a human rainbow of kids playing together. Yes, occasionally fighting each other, but the fighting was never about skin color. It was always about some infraction of the rules of the game we were playing or someone inadvertently getting hurt and losing their temper. It never had anything to do with race. Any squabbles that occurred were soon forgotten and we soon went back to our normal “business” of playing. When we chose up teams the captains would pick players based on their abilities not the color of skin. My friends and neighbors were African-American, Hispanic, Asian, White, Protestant and Catholic, gentiles and Jews.  You know what? While it meant something to each of us as individuals it didn't mean anything to us with regard to our friendships and how we treated each other.

Someone once said of former Senator Bill Bradley that because of his basketball career, between high school, college and the NBA, he had probably showered with more African-Americans than most white people know. While I never played in the NBA the same could probably be said of me since between the sports teams on which I played and my serving four years in the Marine Corps, I too have probably showered with more African-Americans than most white people know.

This brings me to the tragic death of Trayvon Martin. This case has shined a spotlight on a man that may have over stepped his bounds, but in the long run was merely, as the jury found, defending himself. This is a man who was labeled a bigot because the victim in this case happened to be African-American. This so-called bigot tutored and mentored African-American kids and took an African American to his prom (I wonder if this "bigot" wore his formal Klan hood to it). This is a man who was on his way to Lowes one night and spotted someone wearing a hoodie close to homes, not on the sidewalk, in a community that had a recent string of burglaries. He spotted a person wearing a hoodie from behind, yet it has been determined by the national media and those that make their living doing their best to keep the races at odds with each other that this man profiled this person based on race. I defy anyone to tell me they can tell someone's race when the person they're looking at from behind is wearing a hoodie. George Zimmerman was later able to determine that Trayvon was African-American, but when he first spotted him that wasn’t possible. If anything was profiled it was the hoodie, not Trayvon's race. I understand that Trayvon was trying to stay as dry as possible on a rainy night which is why he was close to the homes. However I can tell you that if it was my neighborhood and there had been a recent string of burglaries and I spotted someone wearing a hoodie going from house to house, not walking on the sidewalk, I can't say I wouldn't have been concerned about what they were doing. The truth in this tragic case is that a young person was killed who happened to be African-American, not because he was African-American.

The way the national media has covered this case many Americans are convinced that “whitey” once again killed an African-American and that this is a common occurrence. After all America is a racist country. We all know this despite the fact that we elected an African-American as president twice. Well the truth is that over 90% of the murders committed on African Americans are committed by African-Americans. This should outrage everyone, but especially those in the African-American community. The Bureau of Justice Statistics in their 2007 report stated that 8,000 and in some years close to 9,000 African-Americans are murdered annually. Again more than 90% of these murders were committed by African-Americans. That means that over a 10 year period more African-Americans were killed by African-Americans than serviceman and woman killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Viet Nam combined. Note that these numbers are for murders only. The numbers wounded are even higher. Why aren't Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Oprah Winfrey screaming for a Federal Investigation into this? Why is the NAACP silent on the subject? In Chicago, during the time of the George Zimmerman trial, 5 year old Sterling Sims, his 31 year old mother Chavonne Brown, 16 year old Antonio Fenner, 14 year old Damani Henard and 15 year old Ed Cooper were all murdered. That’s a 5 year old, 3 teens and a young mother, all of them African-American, were murdered. Did you hear anything about it in the national media? My source for this information on these victims is http://homicides.suntimes.com/. These weren’t the only murders of African-Americans in Chicago during that time period (or since). They’re just a comparison to the utter hypocrisy of the national media, Jesse, Al and Oprah and how vocal they are with regard to the Trayvon Martin death and their silence with regard to these deaths. Jesse and Oprah both call Chicago home. How can they possibly be silent about what’s happening in their own backyard? Oprah has her OWN network and is considered by many to be the most powerful l woman in media. The lack of coverage on this epidemic is deafening in its silence. I find it hard to believe with her influence she couldn’t convince the national media to put the spotlight on this. T. Willard Fair, president of the Urban League of Greater Miam, recently said "the outrage should be about us killing each other, about black-on-black crime." I couldn't agree more.

A Dusting That Won't Soon Be Forgotten

The events in this story occurred during our May 2003 trip to Walt Disney World.

 

We arrived at the Brown Derby in what was then known as Disney MGM Studios (now known as Disney's Hollywood Studios) at 7:15 and check-in with the host. We're a little early for our 7:30 Fantasmic Dinner Package Advance Dining Reservation (ADR). For those that don't know Fantasmic is a fireworks/laser-light/stage show spectacular that takes place in a huge amphitheater. People that make arrangements for the dinner package are seated in a section of the amphitheater reserved especially for them. We're hopeful of getting seated early. It doesn't turn out that way. In fact we're seated ten minutes after our ADR at 7:40. This leaves only 50 minutes for dinner before we're supposed to be gathered to be seated for Fantasmic, but it should be enough time.

 

My wife Janice and I share a Cob Salad which is absolutely delicious. For our entrees Janice had the half rotisserie chicken, Robby, our son, had the children’s hot-dog, and I had the filet mignon. Our entrees were delicious as well. I tasted Janice’s chicken and it was magnificent. The spices and marinade made it a wonderful experience for the tongue. As much as I enjoyed my steak I regretted not getting the chicken.

By now it’s about 8:25 and our waitress asks us if we’d like desert. I say I’d love desert, but do we have time for it? As the words came out of my mouth her face looked like a deer in the head lights. She asked if this dinner was part of a Fantasmic package, and I said yes. I made the PS a month ago, and if I’m not mistaken we should be meeting soon for seating in the reserved section. She excuses herself and says she’ll be right back. She’s gone for maybe a minute and comes back with our passes and says we have time for desert and that she’ll have someone escort us up to Fantasmic. With this settled Janice and I each order coffee and Robby and I each order desert. Robby gets the Hidden Treasures and I get the Grapefruit cake. The Grapefruit cake is good, and I’m glad that I tried it, but I won’t be ordering it again. There’s nothing wrong with it, and like I said, it’s good. It’s just not something I would want again.

We finish desert, pay the check and we’re escorted to the show. As we’re walking I can hear the show starting. I’m glad I made the PS and we’ll have seats. As we’re being brought to our seats I’m sensing that something is wrong, because I remembered reading on allears.net that the people that sit in the dinner package section get out of the theater first, and we’re headed toward the other side of the theater. I’m OK with this just so long as we get to sit down in a decent spot. No such luck. We were brought to Standing Room Only. SRO wasn’t crowded and we were right up against the railing, but this is not why I paid a premium for dinner. The Fantasmic Dinner package cost me about $40.00 more than I would have paid if we only had dinner. Needless to say I was fuming. Those of you that know me know that I am not the type of person to take this. I have made more than my share of scenes and I don’t think twice about doing it when I feel I’m being wronged. I tell Janice that I’ll be right back and I asked a CM to take me to someone in charge, which she does. I speak to a gentleman that says he’ll find me 3 seats. I tell him that Robby is in a wheel chair and he says he can’t help me then. There’s nothing available in the handicapped section. I tell him that I need to be compensated in some way then. He tells me that I have to discuss that with Guest Services. I ask where that is and he tells me it’s on the right as you’re leaving the park.

I go back to Janice and Robby and watch the rest of the show. We deal with the mob scene leaving the theater and make our way to guest services. Janice wants to wait outside with Robby, but I tell her that I want them to see him in the wheelchair and then she can take him back outside. I wait for a short time when I’m waived to come to the desk. I speak with a CM named Sara Jane. I explain what happened and how unfair I thought this was. I point out how Robby is in a wheelchair because he’s got leukemia and tires very easily. She asked if we were going to be back at Disney MGM Studios during the rest of our visit. I say yes but not during the evening, thinking that she’s going to offer us seating in the reserved section of the theater to watch Fantasmic from there. She excuses herself and says she’ll be right back. When she comes back she has a Guest Assistance Card (a card issued to parties that have a handicapped person with them) in her hand and I pull out the one that I’ve already got. She asks to see it and explains the one that she’s giving to us is stamped in green and that these passes are given to the kids that visit through Make A Wish. She said that this Guest Assistance Card with the green stamp is the equivalent of a Fast Pass without the time constraints. Fast Passes are tickets that give you a specific time period to go on the attraction without having to wait in the regular queue.

It turns out that Sara Jane is a childhood leukemia survivor. She knew as soon as I said that Robby was fighting leukemia that she was going to give us the green card, and that if we were going to be around for Fantasmic again we’d sit in the reserved section.

We got to talking with Sara Jane and asked about which type of leukemia she had and what medications she was on. We learned that she was 24 years old and that because of her treatments she’s suffered 3 strokes. Strokes are a potential side effect of leukemia treatment. She is a remarkable young lady. She’s even testified before Congress on behalf of the Americans with Disabilities Act. You want to talk about magic! Sara Jane turned an evening that was ending on a down note into a vacation that won’t soon be forgotten. For the rest of our trip we didn't wait on line for any of the attractions.

Goodbye 2012! Welcome (?) 2013

Well what do you say about a year that sucked when the upcoming year doesn't look much better? It started off with my "big" boss informing my department that the company was going to outsource us. Right around the same time my father-in-law became sick. Janice had her plate full already with her Dad and running back and forth to Staten Island so because nothing was definite, and I didn't want to add to the burden she was already carrying, I kept the job status to myself.  In April Dad succumbed to his illness and passed peacefully to our heavenly Father. Then super storm Sandy hit this area followed by the election results. My thought is that the election results will prove to be more devastating than Sandy. Thankfully the voters did keep the Congress split so that at least there’ll be a rampart to slow down this country’s demise. Since Sandy did her thing I haven’t been in my normal work place in downtown Manhattan as it was flooded. I’m currently working in mid-town in make-shift conditions.

It wasn't like there were no good things that happened in 2012. Janice, Robby and I thankfully all have our health. We were able to take our longest vacation ever, spending 11 glorious days at Walt Disney World. I also took a solo trip there in May to play with my tagrel.com friends at tagomania. Yes, I am still a kid at heart. I can’t do anything about getting older but I can, and do, refuse to grow-up. We were also pretty lucky regarding the effects of Sandy on us. We were without electricity for six days and we had some minor damage to the house. Some fascia was blown off the garage and toward one of the peaks on the house, but nothing else other than that.

I also became a published author. Deb Martin Koma, one of the fine ladies at allears.net  and the senior editor of the sites weekly newsletter saw one of my blogs and asked if she could publish it as a feature article. Naturally, being the Disney and allears fan that I am I said yes. You can find the article here http://allears.net/ae/issue676.htm and the original blog on which the article was based by scrolling down below this blog.

Regarding the outsourcing most of the people in my department were let go, others were able to stay with the company in other positions, and yet others have not yet been given their notice. The transfer of their jobs is expected to happen. They just don't know when. To this date the training of the outsource company's people hasn't taken place so it won't happen until 60 days after that. As for me, well there's good news and bad news on that front. The bad news is that I was given a termination date of February 1 of 2013. My immediate supervisor was livid about this and spoke to the person that's in charge of the transition to the outsource company. It turns out the transition person was given bogus information as to what it is that I do. So the good news is my termination date has been rescinded. I'm now in that same state of limbo that those who have not yet been given notice. None of us are completely sure of what is going to happen. There is a chance, a very thin chance, that the outsourcing company won't take our jobs. None of us are counting on that happening though. Along with that piece of "good" news I've had the opportunity to become good friends with a coworker that previously was more of a friendly acquaintance. We've both learned that we can trust each other and keep watch out for each others back. This person knows who they are and how glad I am that we've become closer.

You can see it’s been a heck of a year. I’m hopeful that 2013 will be better. It almost would have to be.

Choices We Make Part I

I grew up in a family of two parents and seven kids. With seven children my mother was a fulltime homemaker and my father was the “traditional” breadwinner. We were far from a wealthy family. While growing up I can’t remember a time when my father didn’t have two jobs and there were times when he had three. My parents made the choice to have that many children. They also gladly lived with and accepted the consequences and responsibilities that resulted with their choices.

With that many children I probably could have qualified for the “free” lunch program at school. I can vividly remember being sent home from school with the application year after year and my father balling it up and throwing it away. When I got old enough to understand what the application was I asked my father why he threw it away? He said that it wasn’t the government’s responsibility to feed me, it was his. Don’t misunderstand me. I didn’t want the school lunch. Mom provided me with a healthy brownbag lunch everyday. I just didn’t understand, if the government was going to give us help, why Dad wasn’t willing to take it.

A few years later I began to understand. When I got my first job and I looked at the paystub I saw the difference between my gross pay and my net pay. Why was there such a big difference? If you’ve ever held and job and I’m sure 99.999999% of you reading this have, you’ve noticed this difference too. Social Security and taxes were taken out. The taxes that were taken, in a small way, went to help pay for the “free” school lunch. (I’ll refrain from talking about Social Security in this blog with the exception of mentioning that while Social Security is certainly social it is far from secure.) My Dad knew that the “free” lunch wasn’t free and that if he had accepted the help it would mean that someone else would be paying for what was his responsibility.

I know that taxes are a necessity. There are things that government has to do. It has to provide for our common defense for example. And there are things that only the federal government can do. I like that when I buy medications, whether prescription or over-the-counter, I feel secure that they have been thoroughly tested. The FDA isn’t 100%, but I know that if it weren’t there snake oil salesmen would still be running around. Knowing that the federal government has things it must do and things it should do I can live with paying taxes. Not that I have a choice in the matter. Well, I do have a choice, but I’d rather not go to prison.

A few nights ago Wolf Blitzer as moderator of the Tea Party Debate of Republican presidential candidates asked how society should respond if a healthy thirty year-old man who decided against buying health insurance suddenly goes into a coma and requires intensive care for six months. Notice please that Wolf said this man decided against buying insurance. This means that he was capable of buying it. He had a choice.

This is an interesting question. We Americans think of ourselves as compassionate people. And indeed we are extremely compassionate. No other country’s people are nearly as generous either in terms of the total amount of money we give to charities or the per capita amount we give. Yet we are also a people that believe individuals are responsible for the choices they make. If I were into skydiving and had made thousands of jumps where I got to enjoy the exhilaration and beauty each and every time I jumped the choice would be mine. If on my next jump the chords got tangled and the chute didn’t deploy correctly the choice to do that jump was still mine, and so are the consequences. For the prior thousands of jumps the consequence was the exhilaration and beauty I got to enjoy. Did that exhilaration and beauty make it worth the one time when the chute didn’t function as expected? I know that this is an extreme example, but isn’t it basically the same question that Wolf posed at the debate? The healthy thirty year-old knew prior to falling into the coma that choosing not to buy health insurance was a risk, but it was his choice. Should the consequences of his choice be thrust upon everyone else?

You may be thinking Mark that’s not a very Christian way of thinking. I certainly don’t want the man to die and I’m not saying that the man shouldn’t be helped. As a Christian I want my church to help him. There is no denying that Jesus would want us to help him. I’m asking is it the government’s responsibility? At what point does my compassion as a Christian become the responsibility of the government? I know that if the man were my son I would prefer to get a knock on my front door and hear I’m from the church and I’m here to help rather than I’m from the government and I’m here to help. I also know that the person from church would be truly compassionate while being prudent in how the financial help was spent whereas I doubt the bureaucrat would have the same compassion or be as prudent.

Obsessed? Addicted? Do I Care?

The answers are Yes, Yes and No.

So, what am I obsessed about? What am I addicted to? What don’t I care about? Oh come on. I know that most people that are reading this are either friends or family so you already know, but for anyone else that might be reading this I’m obsessed about Disney, I’m addicted to going there (Walt Disney World (WDW) in particular, although I won’t rule out going to the other parks), and I don’t care if you think I’m abnormal for being this way.

While I know there are some that think I’m crazy, and to an extent I am, I know that as bad as my obsession and addiction is, I want to assure you my obsession and addiction isn’t nearly as bad as it can be. Yes my friends I am far from being over the top. In fact I think it would be a safe bet that some that are reading this are in a far “worse” state than I’m in. You all know who you are.

How does my obsession manifest itself? I almost always wear something Disney. In truth I can’t think of the last time I wore something that wasn’t Disney related. Well fully dressed anyway. I do have a couple of bathing suits that have nothing to do with Disney. But I only wear them when my Disney bathing suits are in the hamper or wash. I have at least 3 Mickey Mouse (MM) watches, numerous MM pairs of socks, and a couple of MM ties, a MM tie clasp, and my dresser has a draw + of Disney tee-shirts, some of which are of my own design.

My biggest purchase has to be the purchase of membership in the Disney Vacation Club (DVC). DVC is the Disney version of a timeshare. My wife and I “own” (it’s actually a lease since membership does expire) at Disney’s Beach Club Villas and Disney’s Old Key West, two of Disney’s deluxe resorts. The only regret I have in buying into DVC is that we didn’t do it sooner. We love the resorts where we’ve stayed.

Beyond my wardrobe and DVC membership I am always perusing Disney related websites, with my favorites being tagrel.com, allearsnet.com and mousesavers.com. Tagrel’s is a forum type of site where members ask and answer each others questions about Disney. Beyond it being a forum to exchange Disney knowledge Tagrel’s is a community. I have met and have become close friends with many of the members there. Allearsnet has a forum, but more than a forum site it’s an on-line encyclopedia for people planning trips to Disney parks. Want to learn about the accommodations, dining, parks and things to do outside of the parks? Allearsnet is, in my humble opinion, the place to learn about these things. Mousesavers is sort of an on-line magazine that is constantly updated with ways to save money for your trips. Since I learned of mousesavers I have saved hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars because of the tips I learned there.

Oh yeah, there’s one other thing that will show my obsession. Inspired by this collage,

(picture collage used with permission of Gary Cruise)

I ordered my own set of vanity plates. If you’re on the road and see

 

give me a honk and a hi Mark wave.

Why am I addicted to going on trips to WDW? Have you ever heard the expression the only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys? In a nutshell that’s the reason. When I go to WDW I turn into the 9 year old boy whose parents took him, two brothers and a sister on a cross-country camping trip to visit Disneyland back in 1966. When ever I’m at WDW I get to be a kid again where my only care is having as much fun as I want to have. Along with that, and maybe beyond that, is the world class service that Disney cast members (all employees of Disney are cast members) provide to all of their customers. Disney cast members make me want to come back time and time again. It doesn’t matter if you stay in one of the deluxe, moderate or value resorts when you stay at one of the Disney owned onsite resorts you are treated as a valued customer whose business is truly appreciated. That attitude is not confined to the resorts. It is found throughout WDW including all 4 theme parks. We in the community of Disney fanatics call that sharing the magic or spreading the pixie dust.

Why don’t I care if I’m thought of as abnormal for going to WDW time and time again (16 trips in total with another one forthcoming)? I guess it’s because I know what a great vacation going to WDW is. I can go to WDW on a 6 night, 7 day vacation, not set foot in one of the four theme parks, and have a vacation that anyone would envy.

What I don’t understand are people that ask incredulously “You’re going there again?” These are the same people that go to the shore, or the lake, or the mountains year after year and think there’s nothing strange about that. Well there isn’t anything strange about going to any of those places year after year and the same is true about going to WDW year after year. So if you don’t like or think it’s strange that I go to WDW time and time again, guess what? I don’t care.

Common Sense Economics

I want to talk a little about economics. Admittedly I am not an economist, but I’m also not an idiot. I like to think I have, at the very least, an average amount of common sense. Using that common sense is how I am going to discuss economics.

Let’s say that I have a product. It doesn’t make a difference what the product is so long as it is something that other people either need or desire. I know that I want to maximize my profit on this product. The question economically is how? Do I sell as many as possible? The logical way to sell as many as possible is to price my product at my costs. But that doesn’t maximize my profit. In fact there is no profit selling at cost. OK so let’s raise the price as much as possible. Well I am now maximizing my profit on each unit of my product, but I’m not selling nearly as many. So I’m still not maximizing my profit. In fact if my price is too high I won’t sell any at all. In order to maximize my profit I have to find the price that is somewhere between selling at cost where there’s no profit and pricing it so high that I’m not selling any at all where there is again no profit.

This is how the tax structure should work. Obviously if the tax rate is zero revenue to the government will also be zero. Conversely if the tax rate is 100% revenues will also be zero. Who is going to want to work if every cent they make is confiscated by the government? The optimum tax rate has to fall somewhere between zero and 100%. There is only one way to find out what that rate is and that’s to change the rates until the optimum rate is found.

Back in the 1980’s when the Tip O’Neill lead Congress and Ronald Reagan lowered the tax rates revenue to the treasury increased. In fact they more than doubled. This shocked many of the experts who expected just the opposite to happen. Unfortunately for every dollar that the treasury took in Congress spent two dollars, but that’s a different topic. Not only did revenues to the treasury increase, but employment went up as well. How could this have happened? The answer is pretty simple. When people are able to keep more of what they earn they are able to spend and save more. When they spend more demand for the products they want goes up thereby causing manufacturers and service providers to hire more people to meet the demand. More people being employed means there are more tax payers contributing part of what they earn into the treasury. If instead of spending more they decide to save what the government is no longer taking this is also good for the economy. More money being saved means lenders have more funds available to loan. More funds available to be lent means interests rates go down. When interest rates go down people and businesses are more willing to take out loans. Individuals use these loans to buy houses, cars and all sorts of products. Businesses use these loans to expand their businesses thereby producing more goods and services and hiring more employees to provide those goods and services.

Now let’s stop and think for a second. If lowering the tax rates does all of this good stuff what happens if tax rates are raised? Just the opposite happens. Treasury revenues go down and unemployment and interest rates go up and the economy contracts.

...Than For One Not Guilty Person to be Convicted

Here I go again. Once again I find myself sitting here about to complain. What is it this time? The Casey Anthony trial is the short answer. Actually it's not the trial itself or even the verdict. It's the reaction to the verdict. I know this trial was on T.V. and that thousands of people watched at least part of it (I am not among that number). However many thousands tuned in I doubt very much that anyone other than the jury, the judge, the prosecutors and the defense team heard and saw every piece of evidence that was presented.

It is painfully obvious that school systems across the United States need to bring back Civics as a core requirement. I was taught in school that our judicial system is set-up so that it is better for ten guilty people to go free than for one not guilty person to be convicted. This might sound stupid to most people and to a degree it is. It's stupid right up to the point where you're the not guilty person.

Juries do not find defendants innocent. They find defendants either guilty or not guilty. Just because a jury finds a defendant not guilty does not mean that the defendant was innocent. It merely means that the jury did not find enough evidence to convict.

All juries are charged with weighing all of the evidence and testimony that was presented to them and to come to a verdict based on that alone. If they are to come to a guilty verdict they must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt. Take notice what that says. It doesn’t say up to a reasonable doubt. It says beyond. It means that before voting guilty a juror must know in their heart that the accused did the crime. No matter how heinous the crime it is not a jury’s job to see that the victim gets justice. That’s the job of the prosecutor. The prosecutor must present a case to the jury that convinces them so fully that they cannot possibly vote for acquittal.

When a trial begins the accused is to be considered not guilty by each and every juror. If after all of the evidence is presented and the closing arguments are made a juror is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did the crime then, and only then, should they vote to convict. They should not and must not vote to convict if they feel that the defendant probably did the crime. If you have a feeling about something you’re not convinced.

Since the verdict in this case came down on July 5, 2011 I have witnessed on social media outlets a backlash against the jury. People have been crying out that justice for Caylee has been denied. Their fury is misdirected. If their outrage should be directed at anyone in this case it should be at the prosecutors. The prosecutors didn’t present the jury a convincing enough case that left it with any choice but to acquit.

The day after the verdict juror number 3, Jennifer Ford, said on ABC News "I did not say she was innocent," but also, "I just said there was not enough evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be." Another juror, juror number 2 is quoted in the St. Petersburg Times as saying "everybody agreed if we were going fully on feelings and emotions, she was done”. “I just swear to God...I wish we had more evidence to put her away. I truly do...But it wasn't there." It is obvious that the jurors took their responsibility very seriously. And that is as it should be.