Charlottesville Is Trump's America

Look around people.  Nazis are back and they are louder than ever calling Trump their leader.

If you ignore that so that you can get wealthier, so that you can feel safer, shame on you. There is zero justification to trust this man.

His rhetoric and lack of empathy is endangering every American around the world. 

There is so little doubt that he has helped the recruitment of terrorists both domestically and abroad. 

As access This is not a man of peace and prosperity, but of war and chaos.

The country needs to fix this.

We need to fix this.

We need not fear about money or losing our place in the world economy.

Our trade will boom as long as we control the ports and passageways as well as continue to educate and innovate.

We need not fear, our economy is as much the world economy at large.  We account for 25% of the world GDP with 5% of the population.

By contrast China, and the ENTIRE EU account for less less while having roughly a billion more people on regards to China and the EU as a whole is still twice our size.

The bottom line being that we not fear for Money's sake to put up with a man who invites and incites violence at every step of the way.

I do not trust Trump in the slightest.  He is looking out for himself at all times and others last. 

He is the scum of this world.  A man hell bent on power mixed with xenophobia and ethnocentrism. 

It's absolutely more disgusting in my mind than 9/11.  It's the blackest cloud I've felt since Sandusky. 

Trump could be an individual wealthy piece of shot on his own time, but I would never have him represent me. 

He grabs pussies and laughs.

He screwed over people looking for an education and help and laughed.

He screwed over people looking for housing and laughed.

He is about to screw over America and laugh.

He does it all because he is rich and the system favors the rich, especially those that hold property and real estate in New York City.

Well now he has to represent people like me.  Who believe that how a President leads matter.  Where your words and thoughts matter.

Because as the President of the Country I believe in, you are supposed to represent ALL of us in the best light at ALL times. 

What happened in #Charlottesville, and what's going on all across the Country is Trumps America.  I divided chaotic Country where the laws will be different for whites and the wealthy while the poor and minorities bear the burden

The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Me.

Spring of 1992 (or possibly Summer)

I remember going to Philadelphia to visit my uncle who was living in or near the city.  I'm not quite sure of anything else that we did. I'm not sure if we visited a zoo or watched a movie, but I do know that was the first time I ever saw MTV and the first time I ever recognized the Chili Peppers into my psyche.

Now at the time I was 8 years old, so I could hardly infer greater conclusions about lyrics or video theatrics, but I specifically remember the sounds and how much I liked them.  The first (or second, I honestly can't quite remember the order) song was "Give It Away".

A sound and passion as Anthony Kiedis rolled into his chorus of "Give it away, Give it away, Give it away."  The sound of funk, that aggressiveness that rolls off every second of the song.  It was a song that for some reason sounded how I felt whenever I felt unbeatable and strong.  How it felt to be confident in something, and namely yourself.  Oddly the song to me now is about giving that confidence to others and that ability to be great should be passed on as that you cannot keep it forever.  To be honest the video freaked me out a bit as I had no idea what the hell was going on other than these dudes were all silver, but I kinda liked the way they danced and moved.  

The other song might be considered it's complete opposite.  The loneliness that we all can feel at times.  This may have been where I started to formulate how much I enjoyed lyrics and the abilities you can have to tell a story or paint a picture using language and sound.  The slowed tempo, the restraint through the first three quarters of the song and then at the end; a willingness to burst back through and overcome the sadness.  Under The Bridge spoke to that in such a musical way that I can probably never do it with the words I find myself often stumbling through.

And that was the start of everything about music that I would come to love.

Summer 1999 

This summer was one that I felt on top of the world.  At 15, while still foolish and naive to most of the ways of the world, I felt simultaneously on top of one particular world and felt slightly alone in it.  I had excelled at sports, and my confidence in that particular world seemed to be soaring.  I was already roughly 6'0 tall, and had a wide broad shouldered frame.  I could nearly dunk a basketball, and felt like I could run for days.  I could be explosive at times, and had knack for certain hand-eye coordination abilities. 

It felt like I had literally battled and warded off the rest of the world to get to this point.  I attempted my best to fit in with most people but mostly just hung out with my best friend Gavin for most summers. 

This is when they came back and hit me and I'm sure others with what I would call a transcendent album.  An album that changed the way I really thought about music.

Californication was a game changer for me in so many ways.  I listened to the album constantly.  I felt like all of the songs either did or would apply to me.  I felt the way either Kiedis or the band felt depending on how you looked at it.  In any event that music seemed to carry me through the late summer. 

I watched the video for Around The World, which is an amazing starting track on the internet (which may have literally been my first internet streamed video ever) on my mom's work computer.  On Netscape, I believe.  However after seeing what Anthony was doing to the ghost chick I figured it might be better to close the browser and watch on MTV.   

The start, was Scar Tissue.  To me this represented my own evolution to as a boy to an adolescent. I felt great, I felt like I was a rock star.  I felt like I was headed towards big things, but at the same time I had a sadness in me.  A loneliness.  This song seemed to encapsulate that and fill the void that I sometimes felt.

By April they would come to my home town with the legendary Foo Fighters and rock little State College, PA and leave a impression of alternative music for YEARS to come.  I remember walking into my Science class the next day and distinctly remember our Student-Teacher who happened to be a slight role model for me as I remember him being a tall blonde guy like me who seemed to have a sense of humor.  He came to class the day after the concert and said that it was the best show of his life and that there was nothing like it. 

But the song that sticks with me more than most still is "Otherside".

Even as a youth I felt sad or alone at times that I felt I shouldn't.  But that no one else could understand it.  To me, the literal interpretation of drug use and addiction was still foreign to me.  But the sound and emotion was not.  As I was going through puberty I developed acne issues and simultaneous self-esteem issues throughout the year so this song hit me about as well as any.  I turned to my otherside which thankfully for me was athletics and I enjoyed my English and Science courses at school.  I turned my negative into a positive.

Fall 2003

By The Way was released the Summer of 2002, when I would graduate from high school, then subsequently go to school at Penn State.  Better yet for me that year I was able to successfully walk on to the school's legendary football team.  I actually remember singing "Minor Thing" in the car all of late summer on my way to and from my first classes.   But the highs came with lows as well as I began to struggle with the work load and found myself still struggling to fit in socially at times.   I also began to realize that while I may be very skilled and possessed some athletic talent I was not on par with some of the players that would then go on to become pros. 
 
They came with Queens of the Stone Age and put on a great show, though I mostly remember having wished you played longer (probably just selfish and wanting more since Pearl Jam played a monstrously long 3 hour show that I went and saw that blew my mind late that Spring as well).    I also remember this being the first concert I had ever smoked marijuana before and felt amazing and a slight hint of paranoia.  It was thrilling and amazing all at once. 

I was late to find alcohol and drugs unlike the story I've read of some people.


Summer 2006

I didn't know it at the time but this particular stretch of time may have shaped me more so than any year I could think of.  I was going into my final (albeit extra) semester of college.  I was in the process of leaving the past behind in many ways.  Even though it was painful, it was also absolutely necessary.

While I sadly missed this tour as well, the double album release of Stadium Arcadium seem to be such a perfect album for everything.  I loved every minute of it and it is in all likelihood my most listened to album.  It wrapped up everything I felt so succinctly, so totally that I became a bit obsessed.  I began to scour the internet in hopes of finding bonus tracks, live albums and more.  I also got the tattoo...

My Left Arm

I try to tell people about what the tattoo means to me, and I always find it difficult at first, but in the end I always arrive at the same place.  It means happiness.  It's seems so simple but it's complex, in the way that life is always intertwining us.  It's ups and downs.  It's inevitably beauty and tragedy that we experience through it all.  But in the end you are happy.  You are enjoying life.

2011

In perhaps the greatest irony in the coincidences of life, I'm With You would be released the same year I would meet my wife.  Despite the departure of John from the group I felt the sound was still authentic and real and not something simply contrived for dollars and a paycheck.  Yes it was different, but it was still good and the funk and passion was still there.  Plus there's freaking cowbell.

I would get to see you on tour with my friends from back home who had just recently moved to the State of North Carolina.  I invited my girlfriend/future wife for the road trip down as well.  To this day my memory is so vivid of arriving just before sunset and heading inside.  We were maybe a touch late and Santigold was crushing her live version of Disparate Youth. 

I was charmed and in love all at once.  And even though it was not exceedingly warm in North Carolina that day, it felt like you had brought the Los Angeles sun with you.  

February 12th 2017, Philadelphia.

I wanted to write this long before today.  I wanted to see if I could tell exactly how the music made me feel and why I have a large red asterisk logo prominently tattooed on my left arm.  But like many times I found myself distracted and procrastinating on something that I knew would be difficult, but in the end worthwhile.  I actually wanted to write this and have it read by the Chili Peppers themselves, have them become so enthralled by my story that they would give us all backstage passes and we would hang out with some rock legends.

It was cold that morning but not overly so, and as I gathered my compatriots for the trip it was quite the eclectic group of twenty something's with one thirty something leading the charge into a musical experience.

We traveled together.   Some of us drank, and some smoked, but we were there in a space as one, and in one of the the largest cities in America enjoying each others company.  In a city that in many ways should be thought of as the beginnings of Freedom.  And even though sometimes it seems like the world wants to implode for no good reason, if felt like WE wanted to be there for one another and couldn't think of a better place in the world to be.

It wasn't until then that it hit me just how lucky I was to live in a world that mostly allows (or will allow) all of our actions.  To summon upon request a driver via a pocket computer.  The terrible driving that then ensued that literally reminded me of this entire scene minus the hold up at the end.

To then relieve the stress of that trip by watching your favorite band and musical artists of all time perform with such energy and gusto that you knew everyone around you felt a similar fun and funky energy tempered at times with some real raw emotion. 

I couldn't help but think of all the friends and contacts I've made over the years that have helped to shape who I am.  How fortunate that most people that I've come into contact with by and large have been good towards me stay in my thoughts and those that were not seemed to be so far removed that I cannot remember who they might be. 

I was sad for a little that my wife could not enjoy this past trip with me, and I know that it bummed her out.  But as we took our car home, with a much more sane and efficient driver, I realized I could still feel the memory inside me and knowing that she was happy for me to go no matter what. 

The same way you know any true friend or loved one would support you.


May 9th 2017


Tomorrow I'll be adding to my Chili Pepper journey as my wife and I go to Pittsburgh to see The Chili Peppers for our second time.  We hope to explore Pittsburgh downtown a bit and see if any fun restaurants or shops are open.  Perhaps some drinks with friends after the show.  

The Getaway isn't exactly clear if this is the end or not.  It gives certainly the idea of the end but to me there is always hope that perhaps they'll continue to create music.  They have been at this for over 33 years.  I know because my birthday happened to occur a few months before their first album was released.  I find this fact so coincidentally odd that it's bizarre but I'm not exactly the superstitious type. 

In the thirty three years they may not know it but they have inspired and helped millions.  Helped them to feel good or to help them cope with feeling sad.  Their music will be used countless times to frame scenes in other movies, films or writings.

I just wanted to say thank you.

We Are....Not Done Yet

We are here.

We have arrived.

They still may want to not believe it, but it's true.

The Penn State football program has another great team that has come together, and a town and community that has been coming together and despite what feels like the rest of the world coming apart we understand that it is OUR unity and combined abilities that WE are something special. 

The way that we play is simple. 

It's for one another.  We know that every part will depend on another, and though we may have individual greatness like no other, it is our ability to bring the most out of each other that has taken us to this point. 

In countless ways and in countless times I have seen great play from every single position.  I have seen effort from every single position, and when opportunities came to either blame one another or help one another, we chose the latter.

This is why we've been successful.  Yes most of us will also have won some measure of genetic lotteries or pure individual will power, but at the same time, it's how we all work together, push one another to be better, and do it despite different backgrounds, different belief systems.

That's why I believe team sports are special. 

While in all sports there is no where to truly hide (you either perform better than your opponent or you don't.)  Team sports have the added requirement that you to adapt to others around you to succeed.  

The dual realities of College athletics is unique further still as it is the first time for most young adults to be away for extended times from their original environment, seeing perhaps for the first time a bit of global perspective, despite the modesty of a small town such as State College.

But through it all we've kept that faith, that belief, that we are on a good path, one that may or may not result in trophies, but will certainly benefit those that follow it.  We believe in enjoyment of life, and certainly that of physical activity.

It's clear they are putting in the kind or work that will lead to a great attitude in life.  That they would give their all if they go into medical fields, aspiring journalists, community leaders and educators.  

The adrenaline rush of sport can rarely be captured quite the same way in other endeavors, though we often try.

Now we sit at the doorstep of something no one thought would happen this soon; a Big Ten championship.

One more opportunity to show who We Are.

Regardless of the outcome I'm confident of one thing, that we will give it everything we have, one last burst of energy to show the world that Penn State isn't waiting for anyone else.

We are ready to be the best right now.

Still Fighting - Penn State's Community and Football program back in the spotlight.

Years ago I wrote an article entitled "Fight" dealing with how to respond to the sanctions levied against the Penn State Football program and the resulting shaming of a community.

I believed that by bonding together; that by collectively, as a community, attempting to become the best students, the best sons and daughters, to become the shining examples of what Penn State really was to us, we could put Penn State on the map for all the right reasons.

More so, we could do so while holding true the principle tenants of the School (and some might argue of life).

That we do so while acting humble and taking pride in our work and in our effort.  That when we might fail, we do so knowing we attempted to get better, to improve.

It's been five years since that article and I feel that by and large everyone in this community has improved, and for the past 5 years, with a few hiccups along the way, I don't think I've ever felt as optimistic about being a part of this community.

The Penn State Wrestling Program is the current undisputed best program in the country under the guidance of Cael Sanderson.  Our Women's Volleyball Program with Russ Rose at the helm is among the best in the country.  Our basketball teams continue to be competitive and perhaps are just a year or two away from breaking out.  Countless educational achievements have been made, and THON continues to an incredible benefit and event.  Our hockey programs are beginning to garner serious interest.

Developers are taking notice, building downtown. They are building and believing in this community.  Our hospitality industry seems to be thriving in a competitive business.  For myself, I don't think I've been more satisfied at the job that I have.

In my personal life I feel as though I've done a pretty good job at following my own advice.

I feel closer to my family and friends than I have in a long time, I've built and trusted those relationships more and more.  I've been more open and available to my longtime love, best friend and now wife.

I've made healthier choices in my diet overall, and continue to exercise regularly.

In fact, overall, I don't think I've ever felt better.

But that doesn't mean that we, or I, am satisfied yet.

Because I know I have made mistakes, I have been deficient in some areas.

I know I can improve.

That constant drive; that knowledge that life won't stop for you or your latest achievements. That life has a way of being unpredictable and leveling things out and that while you may be on top now, if you don't keep up the habits that got you there, you will inevitably fall.

This Saturday, the Penn State Football team, a long-time beacon and symbol of everything positive about this university will get the spotlight along with what many believe is the best (or among the best) football team in the nation in Ohio State.

People across the country, and certainly in the the North East and Mid-West will look out at our team, at our environment, at US and from that moment in time make a decision as to how they feel about Penn State and who we are as a community.

Regardless of the actual outcome of the game, I want those watching at home or visiting us to watch from the stands or a bar and know that we aren't scared of the light being back on us, that we aren't scared of being on the field and we aren't scared to support or cheer for our team.

We do this all in a way that is passionate, that is morally and ethically good.  We don't do it to brag, we don't do it so that we can point to our championships.  We do what we do because it makes us a better place.  Because what matters at the end of the day are two things.

Are you coming together?  And are you getting better?

I'm confident, that when ESPN's cameras capture this community, when they go and try to capture the spirit of this town, they'll find a place that embodies the best in university culture.  That we are passionate, yet respectful.  That we believe in each other and pick each other up when we fall.  That we don't quit.

As Ohio State's fans come down may our exchanges begin as welcoming, and may we be civil and respectful.  We live in a civilized world beyond the sophomoric gates of rival high-school behavior.  I hope that the fervor of fandom doesn't take hold to a negative effect.

We have come a long way in 5 years.  And the spotlight is going to be here again.  And when it lights up Beaver Stadium and all of Penn State, they'll shine a light on a group that's still fighting for everything we can be.

Still fighting to be the best.

Faith.

I never thought that my story would be a love story.

I never thought I'd ACTUALLY fall in love.

I watched my parents from a young age, saw the struggle, the pain and the ache's, and felt in some part, that I (and my sister for that matter) made life so much more difficult.

I have suffered from depression for most of my life, and had an acute bout with it right after I had quit the Penn State football team, to focus on my studies and not end up just another jock.

I felt I had failed.

I felt my dream end, and with it to some extent, who I believed I was.

I fell in and out of love with various aspects of my own choices and my own reality.

I watched best friends marry, achieve financial success.   I saw them all happy.


I felt alone.


You then came into my life.

You smile in honest.

You first came to me with what I could detect as a mutual sense of eagerness and caution.  Something that made me both confident and scared.

You made me sense who I was again.

Your brightness in the world I find inescapable.

You are someone I feel I cannot and will not be without.  I feel your presence even in your physical absence.

You make me want to be my best, despite whatever condition the world puts me in.

You give me my Faith in the world.

You give me Faith in the future.

You give me Faith in myself.

So I promise to Love You Forever.

" Because the Democratic Party is The Only Effective Institution to Implement Policy"

I think the guy at the end (Mark Malouf) is more important than 90% of this video so if you want, just skip until the last 30 seconds.

Sanders supporters walk out

This is what's wrong.  I hate this.  This is how we keep get a Trump and a Clinton.  We keep lying and saying

"F it. Whoever is playing on the winning team is who I want to back.  Yeah I like rooting for those guys that don't win but I really want to pick a Winner that I like the most.  And as long as those two teams are red or blue (in this case) I can live with the results.  Besides it's worked for the past 150 plus years right?

We have to begin as a public expect more of our leaders and more importantly more of ourselves.

We let this happen.

Civilization may have been briefly lost with the advent of technology such as the Internet but now I believe it's time we begin to move and trust our own beliefs a little more and not cower in fear that we may lose.

On Robots and Policing.

This article has to do with robots and domestic policing policy.  It doesn't touch on any of the racial tension surrounding the events that triggered the scenario in Dallas.

While I don't have a problem with the robot killing the suspect in this particular case, I believe we must establish a very clear policy for deadly force using robots and it needs to happen sooner rather than later.

This is what I think we know so far.

The suspect was confined, the area was secure of known civilians, and they could potentially communicate to the suspect. 

 

In this particular occasion it appears the suspect was emotionally disturbed.  There was also alleged taunting and singing which I would deem irrelevant to a professional force, but I know they're human too.  The suspect also allegedly said he had plans for more, if setting off any remote bombs seemed a possibility I again SUPPORT the officers decision.

However to use the same technique again should again require extreme circumstances that should be later REQUIRED to be proven true.  (The State has an obligation to provide all evidence after the fact in most cases anyway.)

I have fear that we will begin to use the robots to bomb suspects without doing the correct police work.

For example we believed on what we thought was good intelligence and been wrong before.  Specifically in our ward with terrorists where we mistakenly have bombed schools and other innocent civilians.

I also believe on occasion that police officers can be corrupt.  That on some level there is always the potential for a good officer to become or be a bad one.  

To remotely bomb a space should be an ABSOLUTE last resort for those two reasons alone.

This will kind of set a precedent. 

 If some one is on a drug bust some kind of raid and they say they fear for their lives for a breach, it is conceivable that the state could freely bomb almost any building at any time.

 What if we suspect a domestic terrorist is at a home making bombs right now, and we say he is heavily armed, and we bomb that area.  Then we later find out that the state was wrong and they kill a civilian?

This is why it's a complex issue and a bit of a big deal.

I believe it's also important in this day and age for all police to film their interactions.  While on duty nearly all of their actions should be recorded, and would think especially using explosives to kill.