2010 ups and downs in no particular order
1- Donald would return for a visit.
2- My grandson Vinny was born
3- My Kids are all employed by the end of the year.
4- Cat and Sean moved out on their own.
5- Liz had back surgery and is recovering.
6- I had 7 heart events and two angioplasties,another stint, two hospital stays and am still alive.
7- Went back to New York after 25 years and reconnected with Liz's family.

These were all event full, but the fact that Liz would still be with me and love me after all these years is the greatest. This will be our first full year of being empty nesters and I would like to be more organized. With God's help we will be able to get out from under our huge medical debt and find a way to raise money to visit Donald And Akiko in Japan.

The Number one wish for 2011 is to make others peoples life a lot better. God bless.

Two weeks til Christmas. What a difference a year has made. God has blessed us in so many ways. 2010 was difficult in many ways but very rewarding. Our Kids have grown so much and my grandson is getting so big. I made it thru two hospital stays for the heart, Liz's surgery for her back, and an empty nest at home. We had a chance to go back to New York and see friends and family. Liz and I have grown so much together this year and we are looking forward to 2011 for more healing. God is great.

There is so much in this world that is a mystery to most of us. Some people strut around thinking they know everything and some are like myself. Some days I feel like Sargent Shultz on Hogan's Heroes who's famous line is, "I know nothing." I read in the paper about an older women who got scamed out of 10 grand by the old" I found some money scam". I have listened to preachers on TV telling people how they can get this new bible if they donate their life savings. I just don't know why these people fall for these scams, until I read my Alltel bill. They were charging me for a ringtone subscription, a deal or no deal subscription, and some others that my wife and I never ordered. On the bill under the bold letters "Alltel premium Services" were the charges. When I question Alltel, they said they can't do anything about it because it's a 3rd party charge (I guess there are 3 Alltels out there) When I explained to them that I did not order these they gave some excuse on how I must have answered an email, put in a secret code, or gave my number out over the internet for them to bill me. I called the number for the subscriptions and that where the fun started. I went thry four different companies that said the same thing, "It's not our fault and we can't do anything about it." If I don't pay the charges, they will shut my phone off, if I cancel their service, I will be charged for canceling it. Now to top it off, Alltel was sold to AT&T so they don't care if I'm satisfied or not. I have now put all kinds of blocks on my phone, canceled all subscriptions, and guess what? The charges are still there. This seems to start from a company called Mind Quiz, goes thru other companies which include Alltel moble messenger, and put on my bill. If other people are getting scammed by Alltel this way, they( one of the Alltels) will have a very good year. Oh , and by the way, all these companies say that they don't give credits. I have a feeling that by calling these companies to stop these services, I just reactivated them by calling them. If you call to cancel, you are automatically reactivated.

I'm awake, every inch of my body hurts, I was running to the bathroom every half hour (I was on an IV the whole time I was there. My head still hurts from the IV of Nitro. My groin hurts, that where they go in with the probe to get to my heart, I'm black and blue from all the blood they drew out and those stupid shots they stick in your stomach. You get no sleep in a hospital. I know today is going to be a lot better (I think) . I still don't understand why I have two arteries that are over 70% clogged and they don't think that this is a problem, plus it is to difficult to get to.

God help us all...... the people have spoken................no more campaign ads and lies.
Congrats to the winners and you will be in my prayers. At first glimpse I could wine and bitch that in most cases the wrong person won, and won for the wrong reason, but I am happy and content with the results. In Michigan we needed and new a better governor and the man I voted for won there. After that, it doesn't really matter because in another 2 years we will change again because people won't be happy. But just a few remarks on the election results
1- The Republican are back in control....good...maybe they can fix the problems that they got us into.
2- If all the political ads are true, we will see government lose control over fresh water and corporation allowed to do what ever they want with the water. They can bottle it and sell it back to us at a profit, they can pollute it again because the pollution will kill the Asian carp.
3- If the political ads are true, there will be no social security, no welfare, no disability. If you can't afford medical coverage, tough shit, you gonna die.
4- We will be looking for a new country to look for WMD. War is profit and looking for BinLadden is harder then finding Waldo. We won't stop until we search every country by force.
5-Get government out of our way. Ponzi schemes are just creative ways of doing business. Let turn off the Government flow of money and go back to the trickle down theory where we beg at the table of Big Business. Let big business send more business overseas.
6- Pure Michigan where bureaucrats couldn't find their ass with a flashlight. Bring back the Big gas guzzling SUV's. How many years did it take them to figure out the auto industry needed to change.
7- Today is my 56th birthday which also means I've been married 1/2 my life to the same woman. I have seen politicians come and go and have realized that I have little control over it. I have been lied to by politician all my life, they are just bolder about their lies today. I have learned from history and not tried to rewrite it.

If this class of elected official fail to do their jobs, the same thing will happen again and again every two years from now until forever.

Time to vote. A person who twist the truth in their ads, will twist the truth if elected. Nancy Palosi and Rush Limbaugh have nothing to do with voting for a drain commissioner. Vote for what is best for Michigan, not just Democrat and Republican. No matter how much the media tries to promote the tea party, it is still just people drinking tea and bitching about the problems that they brought on themselves. Ok, they all might not drink tea. Remember that when people talk about the "Government", they are talking about you, when they talk big business, privatise, they are not talking about you, just someone elses profit.

What is a lie? Soon our TV stations broadcasting will be clean up. No, unfortunately there will be swearing, nudity, sexual situations, etc....... The constant lying of politicians will not be shown on their advertising. Politicians have told us that if you twist the truth, mis entrerpret the facts, or just bash your opponent it is ok. In court they "swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth". Even in court a carefully worded lie can become a truth. If a politician will lie on their ads, they will lie and cheat if elected because the voters have said it is ok to lie and cheat.
Both parties lie, because they can. When voting, here are a few other things to remember
- Who was President when the economy went south?
- Who was President when were an attempt a correction was made?
_ Who profits by war? (hint..Big business with government contracts)
- Why are millionaires running for public office?
_ Why didn't we learn from the great depression.
- What would happen if we got rid of the party system?

Dicrimination.
Lately I've been seeing alot of facebook activity about descrimination against gay and transgender people. People seem to think this is something new. First of all, discrimination is as old as the earth. Everyone get's discriminated against. All people, gay,straight, old, young, black, white, asian, nerds, geeks, blondes,rich, poor, smart, dumb and so on. Discrimination is not good, human yes, but it can be corrected.
People running for public office run ads that are decieving or down right lies. This is a form of discrimination as they try to trick votes from the uninformed. We discriminated everyday against the elderly and the handicapped. Those on welfare are discriminated against, those who are overwight or disfigured are discriminated against. Where someone lives, their lifestyle, their dress, their walk, their talk, are all forms of discrimination. We discriminate against those with bad credit reports,those with criminal records, and those who talk with accents.
Some people feel that if you disagree with their opinion, you are are discriminated against. If you don't think homosexuality is not right, people call you a homophobe. Many times it gets down to opinion and we all know what is said about opinions.
It comes down to the truth, telling the truth, and accepting the truth. How do you stop discrimination against one person and not discriminated against another person? Maybe just treat someone the way you want to be treated. Can it be that simple?

Has Mona Shores failed with our Kids?

My previous blog shows a little of what is going on at Mona Shores High School in Muskegon Michigan.(Norton Shores to be exact) I am not referring directly to the debate about transgender people and their rights being violated. This type story is most likely happening at most high schools. The age of high schools make them susceptible to questions about their sexuality. They are still growing physically and mentally and most of the time they are thinking with their emotions. In high school everything is a soap opera and many things are blown out of proportion. On top of all these emotion based problems they try to mix in real life problems. Part of high school is preparing young children for the adult life and the "real world". By their senior years most students are so confused and to top this off these kids are in a instant gratification mode. All their answers are a computer away, a key stroke to Wikipidea, or a quick visit to facebook. Kids don't talk, they text or instant message, they don't debate, they argue and will tell anyone that"they just don't understand". With all this confusion, teachers and administrators play with their heads. In an attempt to be political correct, they will create the controversies and stir the pot. Rule are not applied the same across the board. They promote discrimination in many forms in an effort to be politically correct. An old saying, Whats good for the goose is good for the gander" is long gone. Decisions are made by nerd, geek, jock, rich, poor, and popularity polls. Our children are being taught and raised by the Internet and poor interaction between faculty and students. Schools like Mona Shores will not change, as a matter of fact, they are just like our schools when we were young. The schools need to get back to the 3 R's. Teachers should teach, not be policeman, political advisers, or authority on sexual issues. This is where the parents should step in. The young people need to search farther then the Internet to find answers.

Transgender, to be or not to be king.

In Muskegon Michigans Mona Shore High school there seems to be a problem. If you are unaware of it you can go to WWW.woodtv.com and see the story. In short, A girl who wants to be a boy was voted homecoming King, but the school disqualified her because she is not yet a boy and is still a girl. Yes, we are talking about transgender. I really don't have an opinion on transgender, how they got the way they are, how they have surgeries to change, or if it is a curse from God or the devil. People who are much smarter then I can debate that. I applaud the students for standing behind a fellow student who feels that they are being discriminated against. I will continue to pray for this student and hope that answers can be found. With that said, both sides are wrong.
(1) The competition for Homecoming King and Queen clearly state that that the King is to be a boy and the Queen has to be a girl. No matter how many votes he got, he is still a she. This obstacle should have been changed before. You can't change the rules after the game has started.
(2) According to published reports, the school let this girl become a boy by allowing her to dress and participate in activities as a boy. In short they hoped it would go away if they ignored it. Now they are sending mixed signals to the students who are now confused. They, the school, uses rules when it best affects them and thus become politically correct when they want. Not all rules effect all people equally. Our legal system show us how to twist the law, our politician show us how to lie and still call it the truth, and our schools teach our children that life is not fair and money and popularity is most important.
My suggestion is to cancel the Homecoming King a Queen and leave the thrones empty. What a better way to protest. Change the requirement for next year leaving this year as the year that no one won. That would be a bigger statement.

What a happy day

I've been listening to the song and get excited everytime I hear it. God has truely made everyday a happy day. The last few months I have argued with everyone. I have argued with smart people, and not so smart people. I have argued about sports and politics and about who is right and who is wrong. My wife and children have said that I have been much more argumentative since my last heart attack. I have been told by doctors that this is common with heart patients and is nothing to worry about. I hate retirement, restriction because of medical reason and money, and I wish this was a normal retirement with more money then I could ever spend. I wish I could play golf everyday, buy my wife everything she needs in life and be there financially for my kids. I watch my kids struggle at times to get their life and carreers on track in an economy that sucks and I can't do much to help. Somedays I feel like a one legged man at a butt kicking contest, and yes, that pissis me off. Yesterday started out that way, I was pissed at the world, pissed at God, and anyone who wanted to get in my way I would be pissed at them. The day was starting out with doctors visit for Liz and I, what could be better. Along with the heart problems, there may be skin cancer problems. Liz is worried for me, and still trying to come to terms with her past. I am worried for her, worried for my kids, and worried about me. Then a wise man put my mind at ease. He did not say a word, butgave me more information and peace then I have had in a long time. He is my grandson, Vincente Steven Donald Peacock. He is almost 5 months old and has the biggest smile that you will ever see. I got to spend a few hours with my grandson and he changed my outlook from bad to great. All of my problems and concerns are still there, but that cute smile of recognition on his face make this a happy day. Thank you God for kids and grandchildren. They help put our lives into the right perspective.
I now know that God has forced me to slow my life down. Without lifes problems, I would be to busy to enjoy lifes gifts. I watch other parents raising their kids and remembered that I was to busy to truely enjoy them growing up. If any of my heart attacks would have been fatal, this joy could not be shared. Thank you God.
I woke up this morning, I have a wife who loves me and is more then I deserve, and now have time to do things with her, and sometimes that means just sitting and talking. O HAPPY DAY. I am not to busy to do that.

NFL Spin

The spin masters for the NFL are fantastic. On Sunday they spun their way out of being caught determining the outcome of a football game. (Detroit vs. Chicago). They spun it with showing everyone the rule, how it was applied, and that it was the right rule. For the uneducated morons, they were able to spin it and make it look like a non issue. What they didn't address was the fact that the call was right, up to the point when the play was done. Now officials have to carry stop watches to determine when a play is finished. The NFL still fixes games.
Now they flood the market with a story about a scantily dressed Mexican female reporter who does not feel that she was sexually humiliated by the Jets. She doesn't feel wronged, the Jets players don't feel that were demeaning, and the NFL is using this non story to hide the facts that they are, and have been fixing games for a long time.
The NFL also threw the Lions a bone by reducing Mahew's suspension by 9 days. This story is now spun out of existence.
The NBA admits to doing it by having different levels of fouls, depending on the popularity of the player. All fouls are not called the same.
MLB can expand or shrink the strike zone and avoid using the replay system.
Money corrupts absolutely

The NFL was on damage control after the fiasco in the Game between Chicago and Detroit. After the bad call or interpretation of the rules, the word went out to other officials. Surprise, Surprise, right at the end of the Rams/cardinal game the rule was used again on a play that was dead, but a fumble was called. The replay showed without a doubt that no fumble had occurred, but quoting the same rule that they just had in their pocket, the fumble was granted . The reason was to give Sam Bradford a chance to win it for the Rams and increase the ratings. All those who are employed by the NFL in one way or the other, towed the company line. Professional wrestling would have been proud of the scripted hose job. Fox was prepared with a ex referee in the studio who towed the company line. According to the NFL, if a ball carrier run into the endzone and spikes the ball, drops the ball or hand the ball to an official, it is considered a fumble. If you think that this is ridiculous, then when is the play over. Do we need a stop watch? What the NFL does not want you to see is that the player was getting up when he let loose of the ball, not the party line of control of the ball.
Yes, I know, it is only a game. Is it controlled? Of course it is. What would happen if you had a Superbowl between , let say, Tennessee and Seattle. The NFL would lose money big time. The NFL has already shown it's disdain for Detroit when they over fined the Lions president for his DUI. They get continually left off the prime time schedule and are trying to take away the Thanksgiving Day game. We Lions fans already know that we can lose all by ourselves. Coach Swartz has his hand full to turn around a program that the NFL keeps slamming.
Here is food for thought. Why do college replay go much quicker then the pro version?

Burn the Koran..........................

What is the big deal? We are so tied to symbolism that we forget the important thing. Gang violence starts with symbolism being words or colors. Flag are also a symbol of a country. If you burn the flag, the Koran, the Bible or your draft card it seems to invoke emotion. We burn in effigy people and leaders, and even bra's. Who is at fault? How about the media? If these people didn't get attention they would go away.
If a Koran burns in a house fire or is burned by some obscure person in Florida, it still burns. The words live on. When a flag burns, a new one is replaced. If a Bible is burned, another one is available. If people want to burn these objects, let them do it, just don't give them the attention.

My question, What would be better? A Koran or Bible being burned, or the Koran or Bible gathering dust on the shelf? Think about it.

Happy Labor Day

It's cold, it's raining, there is double digit unemployment, the unions because of their greed and no control on lost jobs, most labor being sent abroad, the working class losing their homes and jobs, and big business and executives are having their best years ever. You can blame it on the the greed of big business, or the past greed of the unions. Instead of Labor Day, lets just call this Play Day, or thanks for screwing me Day.

We are pulling out of Iraq. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. but wait. We have pulled out of Japan, Germany, Korea, and North Vietnam, but we are still there. Iraq will just be a police action and we will just be advising. Korea and Vietnam was the same wasn't it? When will our soldiers be home? When war fails to be profitable and the business of war is recognized for what it is, then our children will come home.
We spent trillions of dollars for a Republican wet dream, WMD and terrorist groups. What would happen if peace broke out. Our soldiers could turn their rifles to plows and eliminating world hunger. Downsizing the military will only increase our unemployment. Could you imagine the down turn in crime if the military presence was in our cities. We are trying to tell Iraq how to police it's people, and we can't even do it in our country. Our law enforcements are screaming for help. Put these soldiers to work rebuilding our cities, and increase the value of our country. Why won't this happen? No profit for big business. Our soldiers could find the terrorist groups,......hint hint, they are already here. Look up the definition of terror and you will find that we are searching in the wrong place.

Finger pointing in Muskegon

Crime is up and the fingers are pointing. The politicians just had their finger pointing time, and now every other person can add in their digit. First of all they blame the kids, their parents, and their environment. Although there is some truth in these things, they are still not the cure. Electing new people doesn't help.
Pete Hoekstra might blame the government and for once he might be right, but this might mean making the government bigger. I said bigger, not stronger, and more economical. Combining police services with all our little kingdoms would make sense since most of the violence spreads out. The Heights has proven time and time again that they can't handle their own city. Greed and corruption is in every part of their city. It's not the city's people, but those who take advantage of a weak structure. This ranges from business, to officials, and down to the gangs. Muskegon itself has the same problems. The bigger the city, the bigger the problem. Gangs are just imitating big business and everything is down to dollar and cents. The city of Muskegon, to save money, has eliminated street light which will increase crime.
If everyone would turn on one light at night, that would be one less place to be hidden from view. One last place for criminals to hide. Unfortuantly there are not enough lights to see what our elected officials are doing.

Ground Zero rules

The stupidity continues. Build a Masque at ground zero in New York? First of all, the proposed masque is blocks away. Let's just build a bridge to no where from one side to the other. Lets put up another image to worship capitalism. How about an area dedicated to fast food restaurants.
These were buildings that were destroyed by war, same as millions of buildings around the world. It is hard to find a piece of ground that hasn't been effected by war. Maybe we can say that the weapons of mass destruction are buried at the site and all our soldiers should be called home to search the site. More of our people are being killed by our search for WMD then were killed on that fateful day. Our leaders have more death on their hands than these nut jobs that flew the planes.

Bailing out the Unions

Now that wall street, big business, insurance companies have been bailed out the world should be ok. Wrong. There is a rumor out there that one of the unions might need a bail out. Those that we have bailed out continue to lay off workers, ship jobs over seas, pay executive huge bonus, receive tax breaks, and make current workers work in sweatshop like conditions. Now that a union might get financial help to do it's job, these people a furious. That is a great question and the answer is, we can't. We also can't bail out companies, give the rich tax breaks, and definitely can't raise taxes because our businesses are overseas and our unemployed people can't pay them. We can't pay our teachers with money we don't have. We can't have medical coverage with money we don't have. We, the people are telling the rich and greedy that it is time to pay up. No more free rides for the upper class, and tax credits for business. Churches and charitable organization will all have to pay taxes because no one gets a free ride. That is the right wing mantra. Pete Hoekstra ran for governor on not letting the government get in the way and he is now unemployed waiting for his bailout for serving in congress. Cut him off, we don't have money to support ex congressmen.
I'm not mad, just shaking my head in disbelief and the feeble right wing attack on the only President that has been trying to support the people of America. The rich, and poor, tired, sick and healthy. Leftist, you're not much better.

LIFE IN THE HOOD.

Well I don't exactly live in the hood, but I don't live on easy street. Living in the city of Muskegon is exciting, for a small town. All smaller towns have their problems and Muskegon is no different. The unemployment is actually above 25% if you take into consideration of those whose unemployment has run out, or those who lost their jobs and don't get unemployment. Gasoline is always more expensive because the station owners know that you won't drive to the big city to save money on gas. Property values have gone down, and business have left for the big cities. People want to bring in a casino to take away more of our money. State aid is on a trickle down theory, big cities get the money first, and you can imagine how far down the list we are on the federal list. As small towns go, we are on our own.
Criminals are preying on the already strapped people and others are shooting people in broad daylight. Why stay? One person can help get things going, and why not start with me?
In Muskegon, we have only one cable company and they know it. Prices continue to rise and service continues to decline. Cable prices are twice that of a large city, and until another cable company is allowed in town, there will be no competition and prices will sore.
Corner gas stations with shopping are on most corners. The food is high priced, if you don't like it, buy it somewhere else.
I thought it was wonderful when the food truck came to town to help out those who are struggling. I then saw that most of the food was outdated or alot of lima beans.
We have a beautiful shoreline with fresh water, when the waste of major companies aren't washing up on the shores. We clean up one mess while another is being polluted.
We had an air fair that drew people from all over the state and nation. The organizers then banned people from bringing in food, and started charging outrageous prices for food and drink. Air fair is gone.
We have Summer Celebration, two weeks of music and fair grounds. Now you have to pay to get in the shows just to walk on the fairground. High priced food also.

I still love our town because of the people. These people understand what is happening in our country much better then those in the big cities. We know a lie when we see it. We are accustomed to having the screws put to us and yet we survive.
The great trickle down theory is the waste coming down the Grand River. Don't worry, we will clean it up from the money that is trickled down.