Views from Point Breeze

We are heading towards New Years 2012.  We survived the end of the world as predicted by the Mayans about one thousand years ago.  I am thankful about my present situation with my Family, my Life and my Health.  My Wife just had a colonoscopy today and was deemed to be in good heath.  My job situation had been tenuous but recently some good news helped me to look at things in a different way.  Also, the fiscal cliff doesn't seem to bother me as my present income level would not subject me to the taxes that our more fortunate Americans are dreading. I am driving for FedEx as I write.  Today I delivered a package to a young lady that was living in supportive housing in he Eastwick section of Philadelphia.  I had a large package that I normally would have left at someones doorstep.  She stopped me before I left and asked me to bring the package inside.  She was in a vulnerable situation but I have morals and compassion.  There but for th...

I am as horrified as the next person about the fact that 20 beautiful little children were slaughtered in Connecticut yesterday.  I was working my FedEx route yesterday and had no time to really cont mplate the bloodshed at the time.  I heard the news and had to continue working.  I immediately thought about my own children.  They are 23 and 19 now.  They didn't attend private schools.  We would have been helpless to protect them against a deranged individual like this Lanza person.  It is the time for contemplation and Holiday celebrations and these families will have to plan funerals. The shooter killed his own Mother before he began his rampage.  What warped twisted person would think about doing this?  What could she have done to him to provoke being murdered by someone she nurtured.  It was reported that he was mildly autistic.  Does this still present a reason to slaughter innocent children?  Other reports said he was ...

The Knicks crushed the Miami Heat last night.  It was the second time they have beaten the defending champions this year.  The victory was punctuated by 18 made three-pointers.  It was also completed without Carmelo Anthony who was out with an injury.  What in the name of AARP is going on here? They have one of the oldest rookies in the league in Pablo Prigioni.  They even have Scottie Pippen trying to dusk his sneakers off again :-). The Knicks have assembled a veteran roster that is currently the oldest in the league.  Rasheed Wallace decided to unretire to show young guys how to work in the post.  It is a stretch for Rasheed because he primarily shoots jump shots now.  Jason Kidd is close to 40 and still defending and draining three pointers.  Kurt Thomas and Marcus Camby round out the team of sharp shooters and role players.  They are playing exciting basketball and bringing out the pride of the die hard Knicks fans. I am a ...

A strike by a major North American sports league usually brings angst about the number of affected players, the stadium workers missing paychecks and the ancillary businesses missing out on patrons.  The fallout from the NHL lockout is unusually quiet.  There are no loud reverberations from the players, stadium workers or other affected individuals.  This strike could last a whole season and the people hurt seem like it won't register. When the NFL players were late starting a season we heard the economic woes immediately.  The Hall of Fame game in Ohio was cancelled and the ticket takers were laid off and the restaurants cried the blues.  When the NBA was pushed back to 62 games as a result of a lockout, the players barnstormed the country playing exhibition games and lamenting the fact that their childhood dreams were being thwarted.  I cannot recall the circumstances of the last baseball strike but I am sure that the result was lost fans and lower tel...

My elected city councilman, Kenyatta Johnson, has been going through some trying times over the issue of affordable housing in the Point Breeze neighborhood.  I hope that he will stand his ground on the issue of maintaining housing that any resident of Point Breeze can live in.  Demographically, the neighborhood is changing back to what it used to be.  In the late 1960's, thee were still Italian families living in the neighborhood.  I went to Saint Rita's with many of them.  As I graduated in the late 1970's, many of the families began to move of of the neighborhood.  The Montenegro's, DeColli's, Faragalli's and Conaways were families that I called friends. Recently, after some tremendous development led by Universal Homes, a reverse migration has begun.  Some of my peers were caught up in the criminal justice system as teenagers  We were somewhat limited in our social outlets and trouble lurked on most corners.  Those of us who were ...

I am a member of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church.  I have been a unreliable member of the Usher Bard for the last couple of months.  I was attending service one Sunday and forgot it was Communion Sunday.  I had my black and white tie on when I should have worn my red tie.   The Usher in Charge wanted me to stand in the lobby as oppose to continuing to serve in my assigned station.  I haven't been back to Usher since then.  I did attend services recently but it was in the civilian capacity.  The service was awesome as usual. I received an awesome blessing on Thanksgiving.  My unemployment had been held up for almost three months.  I resigned from a trucking job with US Xpress in lieu of termination.  This process caused my unemployment request to be denied.  I had to appeal and this process dragged on for months.  I had to attend a session with a referee in which it was revealed that the company planned to ...

I can't imagine living in a situation where missiles are being fired in my direction on a regular basis.  This is how the people of Ashkelon, Israel feel as they are targeted continuously by missiles fired from Gaza City.  Israel has installed an Iron Dome system that can explode most of the missiles heading toward this city but the unease and tension felt by the residents is real.  People are poised to evacuate to bomb shelters and underground areas.  I do not think it is a safe situation in which to raise a family or try to make long term plans. The people that live in Gaza are being subjected to a return of fire from Israel as I write.  Gaza City has a population of 1.5 million people in an area about the size of Detroit.  In 2010 it had an unemployment rate of approximately 40%.  The city is 99% Muslim and the Hamas Party is taking the revolutions initiated during the Arab Spring to new heights.  The casualties suffered by innocent civilian...