Santa (Repost)

While talking to me at Moore Park in Miami, where I was teaching tennis
as  a volunteer, a father of some kids  tells me he is Hebrew.  I say, "Great, the kids don't have enough problems being black."

Counting his kids and some cousins there are 7 non-Santa believing kids, out of the more than 100 kids at the tennis center.. The Christmas holiday is looming and the park program will be closed for 2 weeks.

One of the father's 3 daughters  (ages 7 to 11) says to me, "Coach Howard, I heard you talking, do you believe in Santa Claus?"

Shamyim, Toby, Rishona  December 2010

I look furtively to my left, then furtively to my right, and then, with the same intense look, I turn and look behind me.  Then I lower  my voice and I say, softly,


"When I was a kid I found out if you didn't believe in Santa, you didn't get any presents."  The kids are looking at me, puzzeled.
Then I ask the oldest, Shamayim, "Do you guys believe in Santa?"  She says,
"No."

Then I ask her, "Do you get any presents at Christmas time?"  She says,

"No".  I say,     
"See . . . . . . . ."

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Obama lied!!!

First family official picture.

While making speeches for the Affordable Care Act, Obama said, if you want to keep the health insurance you have now, you will be able to do it.  Then, the insurance companies started sending cancellation notices to their policy owners, saying the reason they were cancelling the policy was, the Obama Health Care Plan.  And that was true because this kind of rip-off policy is not permitted under Obama Care. Some Republicans  say what they say just to attack the president.  They do not say anything positive about the president and use sound bites to keep the public's mind set from understanding how hard it was to bring us back from the impending disaster that was facing our country and the entire world in 2008.
Even the Economist missed it when they commented that 'more Americans were kicked off their old insurance plans despite what the president had said about keeping your insurance plan.   I expect better from the Economist.  Obviously they don't have a consumer insurance correspondent.  Along with the entire U.S media, they don't get it.    What does getting kicked off mean???  Are you ready?  You may still be insurable.  Before Obama Care that would be great for you.  Because it stops them from kicking you off at a time when they do it to many long time premium payers when they have  health care issues..   Like when they are  uninsurable.. Under the Obama Care program, insurance companies can't do that.
Obama Care does not permit insurance companies from their long time practice of using odious methods of screwing the public.  Ignoring this, the Republicans jumped on what he said in order to take another shot at the black guy.   Which is like accusing a person with cruelty to animals because he was a little rough when he restrained a dog in order to prevent the dog from getting run over by a car or a bus.   So what else is new?  And the press jumped on what he said without any intelligent investigation.  Even the president can't stop an insurance company from executing a cancel clause in a policy.  They do it that way because while it is morally wrong, it is  not illegal.
So, the real question is, "Who the hell would want a cancelable policy, if he/she understood what it meant to have one?" 
And why or when would the company want to cancel your policy anyway?  This is  the most important question, overlooked by media 'experts'.  
The fast answer is, "If you don't make a claim, maybe never."  Of course if you do  make a claim, the answer changes to; "As soon as it becomes profitable for the insurance company to do so."  
When is that?   Read and reread this because except for the Grace of GOD you are not one of the many, many 'former' policyowners who had their insurance taken away from them (cancelled) after they got sick, or maybe made a small claim for stuff like high blood pressure or diabetes..  And now, after many years of paying premiums, to the same company, and thinking they had good health insurance, they take the coverage away.  And you find yourself not only without insurance, but yes,  now you are uninsurable.  For many, a bleak prospect indeed.  The cost of using health care in this country can bankrupt almost anybody.  And if an insurance company can get out of paying a claim, what do YOU think they will they do ???
I daresay one of the primary benefits of Obama Care is the FACT that it cannot be taken away from you for any reason relating to your health condition.. Yes, I am repeating it, like they do, at Fox News Channel, with their orchestrated sound bites.
However, it is my considered opinion that the insurance companies, they already have their lawyers and their favorite politicians, and of course their lobbyists, and their sound biters, figuring out how to enact laws so that they can keep doing stuff to screw the public. I mean after all, where is their bonus money going to come from?

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LaPierre & Loonies

When I was a kid I had a friend, Irv Mamet, who could make musical sounds using his mouth.  He could do riffs with the best of them.  He could imitate a saxophone and do riffs like Ella Fitzgerald did in a song or, he would pick up odd implements, like sticks from trees and then use them as drumsticks.  He could not only do drum rolls he could beat out amazing para-diddles. 
Trouble was, while he wasn't doing stuff like that he would be patting you on your arms or other parts and mumbling and he was always kidding around in a nutty way..  One day he got talking to a couple of guys and he called me over and said to me, "Howard you know I'm not nuts, will you tell these guys I'm not crazy."  Afterwards, I took him aside, and

Twas the day after Santa,  not a bad guy in site,
the presents were opened and the smiles were bright.

here's what I said to him, "Wait a minute Irv.  Let me ask you a question.  Don't you fool around most of the time??  He says, " Yes ,that's my point.  You know I'm just fooling around."  Ok, I answered, but don't you do it, like more than 50% of the time.?"
"Well, yeah, I guess so."
"Well Irv, then I'm afraid that if you are acting nuts more than 50% of the time then even if  you are not nuts, you qualify for being called  nuts" 
But wait a minute, lets make sure we all know what we are doing before we label him unqualified for a gun license. . . . . When I was younger and when things were getting a little hairy and I needed someone intelligent to talk to,  I started talking to myself.  I mean after all its not easy to find an intelligent ear.  And I do have 2 of those..  Specifically, this happened mostly when I was alone in my car.  I found it an easy way to think and started including the Man Upstairs in the conversation. You know, when sorting things out became difficult.  Between us we could solve almost anything.    
However, when I stopped at a stoplight and if you drove up beside me, you might think, 'look at that loony talking to himself'.' The Man Upstairs,  He  fixed it.  He found a little company making a little gadget, you could hold it in your hand, it played lots of songs. and then He steered this guy Jobs, who was running Apple,  to buy this little company and show the gadget to the world.   Anyway the next thing you know a lot of kids are carrying one around and listening to music.   And if you used an ear plug you could put the gadget on your arm or in your pocket. You could listen to music while you were exercising, like running, or riding a bike.  Wow!
I know you know this stuff but here is the thing, I consider the ipod the greatest invention since someone thought of sleeping on an air mattress instead of the ground, when you were out camping.  Just blow it up. Amazing.  Only trouble was, the gadgets were expensive.
But, now what happened is this.  A 'Job' like case of entrepreneurialism hit me like a bolt.  I went out and bought a set  of headphones for an ipod,   No ipod, too much money, just the earphones.  It had wires running from your ears to; your gadget?
So now, when  you pull up beside me, there I am with an earphone in my ear and a colorful wire hanging down, and you think, 'there goes another music lover, singing along.  I wonder who he's listening to?
But I'm not listening to anybody.  I'm talking to myself, or the Man Upstairs.  The other end of the headphone wire is in my pocket or hanging loose.  Brilliant.  No way I will loose my qualification for a gun license.  And today, if I'm talking to the Man Upstairs and  driving, nobody pays any attention.

Newest NRA member

But talking about loonies, the real, real looney out there is this guy who has engineered a take- over of the leadership of the NRA,   I don't think he could get the NRA presidency on a real membership vote, because anybody can see he's, like I said,  a looney.  At first I thought he was just doing this stuff for the money.  (Which he is)  but like Irv, this guy is behaving like a looney way more than 50% of the time.  So I think that's the real reason he's against background checks.  He doesn't want to get found out officially.  I mean this guy can't have all his marbles.  You can't say the stuff he says and qualify for a gun license.  In other words, he's protecting himself from loosing his license to carry a gun, because he thinks a background check on  him will out him as a nut.  Now how is that going to look?

.....Good guy? . . .Or. bad guy? .

One example.  Examine his advice on getting the bad guys. He says, "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is, with a good with a gun."  I think this qualifies him for a stay behind an iron fence.  I mean lets take two of his friends.  Like the guy in the picture.  If they are friends of his they are considered good guys.  Right?  And of course they have guns?  Right?  Instantly ready to stop any bad guy.  Right?  But suppose they get into an argument themselves.  And it gets to the 'Stand your ground' stage.  Either one can whip out a gun lickety split.  So the other guy has to defend himself and before you know it . . ..  .  BOOM!  
So, here is the difficult question..  . Is the dead guy a good guy or a bad guy?  And how bout the guy who is left over?  What the hell?  What a mess.  And all because of this LaPierre guy.   He don't need that license as much as we need to put him in a cage.

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