Thanksgiving

There are many different things I am thankful for this year. We will start with my car accident, I am thankful God allowed me to survive and gave me a second chance at life and raising my son. I'm thankful for all of the wonderful people I have met this year and all of the great experiences I've been through. I'm thankful that my family is healthy, well fed, and have a roof over our heads. I'm also thankful for the small yet significant advances I have made at work and for the bosses who allowed those advances to come my way. I am thankful that my mother and I have gotten back to being close again, we drifted apart for a while but are doing much better. Finally, and most of all, I am thankful that every day I get to spend time, a lot or a little, with my little angel of a son Wayne. Happy Thanksgiving to you all and I hope you all have a great holiday! :)

Email reunion with overseas friend

About two weeks ago I got a wonderful face book message from a friend of mine that has been overseas for quite some time. It has been about a year and a half since I had heard from him and I was starting to get worried that something may have happened. I was so happy to see his name in my inbox that I started crying. He has a wife and daughter in North Carolina, I don't get to talk to them much either but I'm sure he keeps in touch with them, and I know for a fact that his parents and family are very glad to hear he is doing well. We still don't know when exactly he will be coming home, if Obama sticks to his promise we may see him for the holidays which would be the greatest gift of all. I am definitely looking forward to seeing his face and hugging him after not seeing him for so long. I shared this because it was of great excitement for me.

Syracuse assistant accused of child sex abuse

A school in Syracuse, NY placed their assistant basketball coach, Fine, on an administrative leave after two former "ball boys" came forward and accused him of sexual molestation. Bobby Davis, 39, and his step brother Mike Lang, 45, told ESPN that they were molested by Fine on several occasions, back in the eighties for Mike, and late eighties until age twenty seven for Bobby. Authorities are still investigating the allegations but say they will do everything in their power to find out the truth.

Its hard to believe things like this when the "victims" don't come forth with the accusations until many years later. Its also hard to prove if it is true or not when evidence of things like this disappear quickly. I'm not saying these men are lying but they should have told someone what was going on while it was happening. It really is tragic either way, if it is true then Fine will lose his career and most likely do jail time and will have forever mentally scared these men; however, if it isn't true then these men will not only look like fools but lose their careers and lose out of future success. Stories like this make my stomach churn because after this long is there really any way of knowing the full truth?

Ohio Teen Charged With Craigslist Killing

A sixteen year old boy from Ohio was charged today with attempted murder and complicity to attempted murder after authorities investigated the killing of one man and the wounding of another man who had applied to a phony job ad on Craigslist. The body of a Florida man was found in a shallow grave about an hour and a half outside of Columbus just after a man seeking employment from South Carolina was shot but escaped through the woods. The teen is still in custody and the authorities are releasing no further information due to the Judge issuing a gag order.

How many "Craigslist killings" have happened now? This is getting way out of hand. A sixteen year old posting a job ad to lure victims....where do you think he got that idea. My opinion is that he got the idea after reading about other similar cases or watching the movies about them and thought that it would be cool if he could get away with something like this. I believe that Craigslist should use better security measures and have mandatory background checks on people or business posting these job ads. I understand that at 16 he may or may not have already had some sort of record but it would be just an extra safety precaution. It may even save alot of people not only from murder but identity theft, getting conned into or out of something, and even save them the wasted time and effort they put into applying for the phony jobs.

Scientists Sound Alarm on Nuclear Plant

A thirty foot hairline crack was discovered in an Ohio nuclear plant reactor. Many more cracks were discovered after further inspection. The plant's owner says that the reactor was thoroughly inspected and passed requirements. However the plant has still been shut down so the reactor head could be replaced properly.

This is pretty scary, the last thing our country needs is for a nuclear plant to start leaking toxins into our atmosphere. You would think that these buildings would be inspected on a regular basis and that these cracks would have been taken care of as soon as they appeared. Japan just had a radioactive disaster that is already causing panic and will eventually cause health problems to the citizens there. I think that whoever is in charge of inspecting these things should take this as a prompt to inspect these things more often for the safety of the workers there and the rest of the country.

Medical Schools Neglect Gay and Gender Issues

Medical students are only taught in school to ask about the gender of a patients sex partners. There have been incidents where doctors go to do surgery on a patient and are shocked to realize that that patient is not who the doctor thought they were sexuality wise. Dr. Desiray Bailey of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association believes that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender studies should be included in all medical school curriculum's.

I totally agree with Doctor Bailey. Medical personnel would be better suited to treat ALL patients of All sexuality's much more sufficiently if they had training with the matter in medical school. I can't even imagine what these people would go through if they got the wrong kind of treatment for any sickness or disease if their doctors don't even really know how to deal with patients from these types of backgrounds. In today's society there are just as many gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people as there are straights and they all deserve to be treated as equals medically and socially.

For Soldiers, the End of the Mail Means the End of the War

Brandon Friedman wrote this news story about how he had served in the military overseas while envisioning a career in an office behind a desk. Throughout his services this was always a fantasy of his. After retiring from the military he and four others ended up working Brandon's ideal career. While sitting in the office one day just gossiping the news announced that by the end of the year all troops would sent home, and that mail postmarked after November 17th, 2011 would not be sent to the troops due to the end of the war and soldiers being brought home. Brandon goes on to explain that he was there when the mail started coming and that he couldn't believe it was finally ending after all these years.

This is a very touching article. So many veterans of war and soldiers alike have been praying for this day to come. I just really hope that the President goes through with it this time and that these soldiers get to come home to their families and friends. They have been waiting for this for so long and I would be very sad if this doesn't go through. I like many others have friends and family members overseas, and would be so relieved if they were to be sent home safely and not have to worry about this war any more. I'm just not sure that even if they are sent home that this war will be entirely over. The enemy may see this as a victory for themselves and continue terrorist attacks on America. Which in turn would lead us into another war and cause anger and sadness nation wide. I really hope that this is for real this time, for every one's sake.