McDonald's makes a step in the right direction

When I was growing up, getting a Happy Meal from McDonald's was a celebrated event. It didn't happen all too often, but when it did you were in pure bliss.

Sadly, nowadays its an everyday occurrence for some children. Couple that with some kids doing less outside activities and you have a recipe for childhood obesity.

But McDonald's (who I have vented about countless times to my wife) has made a step in the right direction to combat obesity. The Oakbrook Illinois - based chain said it will soon include apples in every Happy Meal, as part of a wide-ranging strategy to change its menu and lower calories by 20%. Click here for full story.

I think this is a great gesture and the start of something new. It shows that the company has a commitment to do its part in reducing the epidemic known as child obesity.

It's not the magic bullet to prevent obesity - that will obviously have to come from parents. If McDonald's keeps this up then could it be conceivable that we might see yogurt substituted for fries or maybe even a side salad included. Bravo McDonald's. Let's see more change.

AFTER 7

Rule number one. Never take mass transit in metro Atlanta after 7 p.m. You run into the "interesting" people then. Yesterday, I broke that rule - here's what went down.

I can't say that I was in a rush to get home yesterday. I was just so worn out from a day that started at 4 a.m. I just couldn't muster up the strength to rush to beat the 7p.m. layover.

The 7p.m. layover is primarily when the southbound train coming from North Springs stops at the Lindbergh station so everyone on the train can get out, and then wait for the Doraville train heading southbound to collect them.

It's a bit annoying and you really get exposed to a lot of different people in one small area.

Yesterday was no different. I quickly exited the train at the layover spot when "she" ran into me.

Woman : "All these people on the left side are going to Hell. Do you know that."

Me: "No I didn't."

Woman: "What do you do? You a lawyer?"

Me: "I'm a writer."

Woman: "Good because I need an editor. I write poems too. Do you have a business card. I want to share my life story. Do you have time to hear it?"

Me: "No, not really."

Woman: "It's short. Let me tell you. My mother and father were separated and I was a virgin at the age of 21. I had two children and they were taken away from me. Then I came under the influence of crack cocaine and did drugs. I was homeless and when I get hungry I turn tricks for money. But that's only because I'm hungry."

Me: "OK. This is a little too much to process."

Woman: "You see all these people they're going to Hell. Not you and me. See I saw something in you. We're going to Heaven. But these people on this side they're going to hell. No see they're OK. It's these people over here. You got a brown speck in your eye like mine. You going to heaven. Follow me I'll show you the way."

As she stepped forward to get into the Doraville train that just pulled up, I took two steps back and went into another part of the train - far away from her.

"That's what I get for leaving work after seven," I thought to myself.

Grace and Fox in Sox

Now that Grace's acid reflux has settled down a great deal, her mother and I are able to read to her a whole lot more. One of her favorites is Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss.

We received the book as a gift from one of my wife's girlfriends and for some strange reason Grace seems to gravitate toward it. Every time I read it to her she cracks a playful smile and laughs. She can be in the middle of a full blown out cry, but Fox in Socks always seems to intrigue her.

Perhaps its because the book is a bonafide tongue twister and she loves to see the look on her daddy's face as I squirm trying to capture every word of the classic tale.

I mean come on, who can say this with a straight face:

When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles and the bottle's on a poodle and the poodle's eating noodles they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle.

Yeah Grace, if I were you I'd be laughing too.

Casey Anthony in talks for interview

This should not come as a shock to anyone, but reports are coming out that Casey Anthony has now inked a $1 million deal to tell her story - whatever that one might be. You can see the article that broke the news here.

TMZ says its sources report that NBC, ABC and CBS are all competing for an interview and that there's a huge price tag involved. Click here to see that story.

Utterly amazing and astounding. And I mean that in a bad way. It seems as though Nancy Grace was correct when she said that the next big steps for Casey were to secure an interview and a possible book deal. It's amazing that the networks would try and snatch her up given the nature of her "story" and the sentiment of the American public toward her.

But still it proves that money is the prime motivator in almost every instance and that no matter what, businesses are willing to put dollar signs over the green any day.

What is more astounding is that news organizations are actually paying her to hear her story. I cannot believe these reports. If this is true, then it is the very perversion of what journalism is suppose to be about. These organizations have said in the past that they don't pay for interviews, but according to TMZ Anthony could earn money through the licensing of photos or other material.

At any rate if she does score an interview, will you be watching?

America's Gut Check

A few weeks ago, one of my family members shared a story with me about a woman who was receiving Medicaid, and went to get service in a hospital in my hometown. Because of cutbacks and policy changes, the woman had to pay a two dollar copay, when the service use to be totally free for her.

According to my family member, this did not sit well with the young woman and she went berserk in the hospital, to the point where Security had to escort her out. All over - yup - two bucks.

Well I got news for ya, it's about to get worse for all these so-called entitlement programs - Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Welfare -you name it. The government will soon be unable to write those checks if they don't raise that debt ceiling.

But even if they do, is that enough? In my eyes - no. It's not. America needs a gut check.

See America's financial freedom won't be won through political posturing or haughty threats of budget cuts. Instead it will be won through the country acting fiscally responsible.

For too long this nation has borrowed its way into severe debt - and politicians have sold the people of the nation a bill of false goods. We have entitlement programs that we as a nation just can't afford. We've created a culture and a mentality where people can get almost anything they want with the swipe of a piece of plastic.

You want a 50 some inch television for your one bedroom apartment that's about 700 square feet - guess what you can get it. You want that brand new luxury car you can't afford - guess what, you've been approved for the loan. You can drive it. It's yours.

That is until you default on the payments and everyone is left high and dry wanting their money.

But I digress... America really needs to do some simple yet complex things to start its road to economic recovery.

• First, eliminate the Bush tax cuts. Get some more revenue coming in that can come into the nation's coffers
• Second, reduce the amount of benefits people are getting who are on food stamps and are getting governmental assistance. The goal of these programs isn't to support a way of life, but to give help so users can obtain a better life.

• Third, the government has to do something about attracting and keeping more firms and businesses in the nation's borders. The country needs to have more people paying into the system so that the revenue stream can increase.

• Finally, There should be a 10 percent reduction on all government spending, across the board. The government has to lead by example if they want to really turn this country around. This includes cutting Congressman's salaries too.

Now after having read all these suggestions, you know why I'll never make it into office. No politician in their right mind would get behind these ideas. it would be political suicide, no matter what political affiliation you represent.

Time's up for some APS teachers

So today is the deadline.

I guess any teacher looking for a job should come to the Atlanta Public Schools - there are about to be a lot of job openings really fast.

According to an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Atlanta Public Schools interim Superintendent Erroll Davis has sent letters home to all 178 employees implicated in an ongoing cheating scandal asking them to resign by today or face termination.

This story is heating up and the implications are tremendous. Davis, who was hired last month, is already trying to distance the school embattled school system from the scandal by weeding out the so-called bad elements.

But is it enough and will it work?

I think it's a start, considering the tremendous uphill battle the school system faces. After all, there could be some possible fallout from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS); rebuilding trust within the Atlanta area; and of course the children.

By putting these teachers on notice, Davis clearly wants to move forward and realizes that this scandal is a 500lb. weight dragging down any future success.

But things are easier said than done. APS faces a multi-faceted problem. How many of these teachers believe they've been treated unfairly and want to file lawsuits? How will this play out in filling those positions and cost to the school system.

Also, what kind of disruption can the school system expect to face if it eliminates 180-some positions. I don't have a crystal ball, nor can I predict the future, but I think its safe to say, this isn't going to go down smoothly.

Raising the Debt Ceiling

A few years ago, popular Comedian Roy Wood Jr. prank called a woman by the name of Barbara and as part of the joke "threatened" to cut her Social Security check.

Her reaction was frank, firm and to the point. There was no way that the government was ever going to even think about cutting her benefits. She claimed that President Bush (who was in office at the time) would need to come to her front door and tell her the check was being cut himself, before she would even entertain the notion of a possible reduction. She even threatened to slap Mr. Wood to sleep over suggesting such an outlandish idea.

I wonder what her reaction would be now, especially considering the partisan battle over raising the government's debt ceiling is threatening Social Security checks and other such programs.

For the uninitiated, the debt ceiling is the legal limit on borrowing by the federal government. The nation’s debt is inching closer to the legal limit of $14.3
trillion.

If Congress does not increase the limit, borrowed funds would not be available to pay bills and the United States may be forced to default on its debt obligations. Congress has until Aug. 2 to do this, before the country goes into default.

So why isn't the ceiling raised and this unpleasant business put behind us? It's because this time, the nation's debt is nearly the size of the entire $15 trillion economy. That and the fact that there's also a lot of bickering between - you guessed it - the Republicans and the Democrats.

Here's how a recent article in USA Today breaks down the score card:

The USA Today article points out that Republicans are adamantly asking for entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid to be included in any potential cuts. The party has said they want tax increases be left out.

The article goes on to say that, President Obama wants to take aim at tax breaks enjoyed by oil companies and others, and he's pushing for a "debt cap" aimed at locking in the savings over five years by forcing automatic reductions if needed.

These issues have the two groups clashing the most.

If the two sides can't come to an agreement, then the outcome will be catastrophic and a bit murky since there is no precedent for this. Social Security Benefits could be one of many casualties over this issue, if it's not resolved fairly quickly.

If that happens, I fear that the economy will have a nuclear meltdown. My parents have been watching this very closely. Both receive Social Security and Medicare. Without these two programs life could be very difficult for them and healthcare costs could mount up tremendously.

Congress needs to resolve this and put aside petty partisan politics and look at the bigger picture. If not, then I think many will feel the frustration of Barbara, only this time it won't be a laughing matter.

Grace and Acid Reflux

The past three weeks have been pretty tough for the family. Our little Grace has gone from a carefree baby, to a screaming banshee. The culprit is GERD - particularly the burning sensation in my little daughter's throat when she spits up.

We have tried everything to calm this down. You won't believe the amount of medicine she's on at this point.

Her mother and I have had roughly 12 hours of sleep in the last three weeks, nervously checking on Grace and constantly being kept up when she is in pain.

Our only recourse to get some sleep was to turn her on her stomach and lay her on us. Yes, we know about SIDS - but we also have a daughter that cannot lay on her back or she chokes on her own spit up.

Luckily we are experimenting with different formulas and we have a pretty good medication regimen that gives our daughter some peace.

In the past few days we've seen it working, as she has been in a cheerful mood and even cracked a couple of smiles toward at us, much to her mother's delight.

I have no doubt that in time we'll have this thing beat, so that we can all sleep peacefully at night.

So, is the NAACP still relevant?

Back when I was in high school, my principal faced a daunting task during Black History Month. Should he go ahead and allow the program to continue, or should he risk scrapping it all together because of the complaints of white students and their parents?

The answer was a compromise of sorts - a Jazz ensemble - that highlighted one aspect of the African American experience, and at the same time was less polarizing to the white students, who had complaints about the original Black History program.

Both sides could not understand the importance of each other's position. White students felt as if the program was too off putting and ignored their culture; black students felt as if the program was much needed and that it was the one time of the year that they were able to celebrate their heritage or history. Ultimately, the principal had to question the celebration's relevancy. Was it truly worth it, in a time where black history was being incorporated more and more into the student curriculum.

Pretty deep stuff for a 16-year-old to be involved in, in the early 90s, eh?

At any rate this is a similar argument that ranges on today with a lot of black civil rights groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). While it can be argued that the organization has done much in the past to help with the advancement of minorities, is it truly time to perhaps consider that this organization is indeed running on an outdated model?

After all, we're not fighting for integration anymore. Some would argue that we have a black president - the fight is over!!!! (They would be wrong). And as far as discrimination goes - what group on this planet right now doesn't have a claim that they haven't been discriminated against in some form or fashion.

I think the NAACP has to try and reinvent itself in the near future. I think the organization needs to retool its brand and look at ways to catch up with the times and make itself more relevant to this generation.

When I was growing up in the 80s being a member of the NAACP was something of prestige. Sadly, now it seems as though it has become far less prominent.

More African Americans are coming into wealth and can afford high priced lawyers that can accomplish far more than a non profit that was founded in 1909.

NAACP needs to see that its new mission should involve a campaign of refocusing.

If I could be blunt for a minute . . .

A couple of days ago at the bus station, I saw a young couple possibly in their 20s having an argument. Or rather, I saw a young woman arguing while her boyfriend or husband looked off into the distance.

I could not get the total gist of the argument, but it seemed to revolve around the fact that this young man wasn't able to provide a suitable quality of life that was to the young woman's liking.

For the better part of five minutes I listened in on this one sided argument. Three feelings immediately washed over me.

Shock. Disgust. Anger.

I was angry with the young woman more than anything. Do you all want to know why? Do you really want to know the single solitary reason that this bothers me? It's because all too often I have seen good strong men, who are doing the right thing, get totally shot down by their spouses or mates.

We often hear that we aren't good enough, or we fail to measure up to some invisible standard that always changes - even once we meet it.

What ever happened to women being satisfied with what their mate is able to provide for them? Whatever happened to women showing respect to men and their accomplishments as opposed to belittling them for their failures.

I realize this picture isn't indicative of all women. My wife is a good woman who has given me nothing more than the uttermost respect throughout our marriage. No, who I'm referring to are those women, who constantly brow beat their husbands and mates, who don't appreciate what they truly have.

These are the same women, who seem to think that a man is nothing more than an ATM - an open checkbook who's job is to fulfill a fantasy and lavish lifestyle. Nothing could be further from the truth.

A good man is a provider. He often sacrifices for the betterment of his family. He takes care of his children and his significant other and makes sure that their needs . . . needs ... NEEDS are met.

A good man will labor and toil for his spouse beyond the midnight hour. He will die for his wife and children if need be. He will take any amount of pain or punishment to make sure that his family is successful and are taken care of.

But to some women that's not enough - and those are the women that this post is mainly geared toward. So the female readers that have a good man and treat him well - or maybe even have a bad man and treat him so-so, this post isn't for you. Just ignore it.

But for those of you who do have that great man that you can't seem to appreciate, please stop and take a moment to take out that huge list of expectations, crumple it up and toss it in the fire. Your significant other isn't a Genie put on this earth to simply grant your wishes. He's a living breathing instrument of God put in place to lead a family.

Marriage isn't for the weak of heart pt.2

A few years back, I met a couple that had been married for nearly 60 years. At the time, I was too young and ignorant to truly appreciate this couple and the advice that they offered.

It wasn't until I became married about five years ago that I began to have a new awareness about this couple and the concept of marriage itself.

My first lesson was this - marriage is a constant job that never ends. There are no off days in being a husband or a wife. I just couldn't remove the gold colored circle on my left hand that felt like a huge stone sometimes and somehow revert back to being single.

During a heated argument, I couldn't just get in my car and drive to home until I cooled off (I was already home)!!!!!

I just couldn't pull out money in my account and go have a night out with the boys just on a whim (we had a joint account and a strict budget)!!!

I also learned that I couldn't always just get what I wanted.

But most importantly, I learned that there would be things that I had no control over that were going to happen in life that would forever change the complexion and nature of my relationship with my wife.

Nothing hits a marriage more than the death of a child. I want to tell you, that before my son died my wife and I could claim a sort of innocence about life. Despite any hardships we thought we might have had, we didn't hadn't seen anything until we lost our little boy.

I guess that's the biggest lesson of all. You can stay faithful, you can be honest; you can be considerate; but if you stay together long enough, there are just some things in life that are going to happen that you nor your spouse will be able to prevent.

I look back now, and I think of this couple. For 60 years they were together. Then one day the Lord called the husband home. Eight months later, his wife passed - so heartbroken because she could not be with her husband anymore.

But I tell you this, to get to where that couple that had been married 60 years got to, you have to go through something. In these days and times, we don't want to go through anything. We want to take the easy route.

We think that marriage is as simple as two people coming together and saying let's be boyfriend and girlfriend. It's not - and it's going to cost you something if you go down that path.

I'm not saying this to be negative about marriage, I'm saying (writing) it so all the single people reading it will know that this is something to be taken seriously. There's no doubt there are tons of rewards in being married. (Each reward is different depending on what God gives you, so I won't go into a huge list).

Often times people think of the rewards without even thinking about the hard work it takes to get to that point.

Marriage isn't easy - but in my opinion, it's worth it.

P.S. I'm still learning. Maybe when I get to 60 years I'll be able to have some more concrete advice!!!!

My declaration

A few days ago, I made a short declaration to one of my old friends via text message. I told him that I was taking control of my household and I was going to be more aggressive in being a husband and a father.

Why I mentioned this to this particular friend, I have no idea. I guess I just wanted to make at least one stark declaration in my lifetime.

Really, I think it was more of a wake up call to myself, that it was time to get off the roller-coaster of emotions and events that have been happening throughout the past two years and start to allow God to put things in my life that will help me prosper.

This blog, is one of those "things" that I feel God has put into my life. For years I felt as if I sat back and was quiet - always nodding my head in agreement or cracking a joke. I never openly displayed my voice or my opinions, until now.

The blog has given me a chance to get any and everything off of my mind. For those loyal followers who have tuned in can attest to the fact that I write about any and everything - typos included!!!!

But back to this declaration. I think it was a simple announcement that I'm tired of being afraid of life. I'm tired of simply waiting for some bad thing to happen.

The past two years have really shaped me and put me into the mindset that anything can happen and tomorrow is not promised, but I have also been crippled with fear and trying to play it safe because of those events.

I owe it to my wife, my daughter and my son's memory to stop living on autopilot and start taking control of my life.

Is NCLB a factor in APS cheating?

For those of you reading this outside the metro-Atlanta area, a recent report was released discussing some members of the Atlanta Public Schools' involvement in manipulating students' answers on tests. It's been front page news for the last few days in the AJC.

AJC articles citing parts of the report are saying that there was a culture of cheating in the school system - which involved more than 100 teachers and administrators.

The AJC notes that the report specifically names 178 educators, including 38 principals, as participants in cheating. The paper says investigators said they confirmed cheating in 44 of 56 schools they examined.

The cheating scandal, in my opinion, reveals a flaw in the much lauded and now seemingly forgotten No Child Left Behind Act.

NCLB, which was instituted back in 2001, requires all government-run schools receiving federal funding to administer a state-wide standardized test (all students take the same test under the same conditions) annually to all students. The students' scores are used to determine whether the school has taught the students well. If the school's results are repeatedly poor, then a series of steps are taken to improve the school.

Here's the kicker to NCLB. Each year the schools must see significant improvement, or they run the risk of losing funding or at the worst, possibly being taken over by the state.

A former South Carolina elementary school principal once told me that it was impossible to constantly make the success the act called for. Oh it was easy to score really well one year - but to keep scoring even better the next year and so on - well that's when the measure began to become a bit impossible, she told me.

I would argue that NCLB puts tremendous pressure on school systems and could lead to these test manipulation situations. Perhaps this could explain the need for educators to indulge in this alleged rampant cheating in Atlanta Public Schools. How many sleepless nights did administrators suffer when it came time for test results to come back. How many eventually broke down and took the easy way out - at the expense of the children.

You see, this is who it's all about - the children. By indulging in this alleged cheating, the Atlanta Public School system has effectively stranded its youth in a hopeless sea of disparity and false accomplishments. When these students reach college age, it would be interesting to track their progress - to see their performance without the aid of these alleged "rogue" educators.

I wonder how are these students fairing, or if parents will file lawsuits against the school system. I also wonder if there isn't widespread cheating going on in some other parts of the country. Atlanta can't be the only school system that has allegedly done this? Can it?

NOT GUILTY: What's Next?

By now the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial is old news. The liquid bubbly from the defense attorney's rather callous celebration in public is dry; the lead prosecutor is already focused on retirement plans; and it has to be going through Nancy Grace's mind that she is reaching the point where she needs to reduce her amount of coverage in this 3-year-old saga.

I think the next few months will be telling for both the so-called Tot Mom and Nancy Grace.

If Casey gets off without having to serve much time, she could potentially go after Grace and HLN for in some sort of fashion, especially if she is the continued focus of these reports. I say Nancy Grace because originally Nancy broke the story. She held up that spotlight and brought national attention to this case. Who could ever forget her wide assortment of panelists reviewing and picking apart every detail of 30 seconds of looped footage.

Casey could reasonably find an attorney who could take on this case. While it's not likely to happen, that doesn't mean that it's unimaginable, considering everything that we've seen in this case.

Casey could claim that Grace made this personal and had a vendetta against her. It's interesting to note that multiple outlets were carrying stories soley based on Grace's reaction. She totally has become entrenched in this case.

But if such a case were to come up, it could potentially cause news stations to think twice about their coverage and become a little more conservative in their speech.

In the meantime, there is a little girl that deserves justice. Sadly, egos, ratings, and lies are preventing her from getting that.

Let's remember the real victim in Anthony trial

So by now, everyone in America should know who this woman is. (If you're a Nancy Grace fan then you probably call her Tot Mom).

But just so we're all on one page, this is Casey Anthony - the woman who is on trial right now for the death of her daughter, Caylee.

Initially, I avoided this case. I just didn't feel as if this story was something that should be plastered over national news.

But after my mother came up for a visit last month, she watched it nonstop, and it wasn't before long that I became hooked intrigued, too.

This case is filled with so many twists and turns. Lies, betrayals, alleged molestations, alleged incest, lies, mistresses with aliases, brawls outside the courthouse, and lest we forget ... lies.

I got caught up in all the hooplah. Then earlier this week I saw the most honest thing throughout this entire trial and that was the testimony of George Anthony (click here to see testimony). It was riveting, and you could see the pain etched across his face.

This was a man who has gone through hell in the last few years, from the disappearance and eventual discovery of his granddaughter, to the insanity surrounding this trial.

His testimony reminded me and probably many of you about the one true victim here that is almost overlooked - an afterthought to the drama and theatrics of this trial. That's little Caylee.

As I was writing this, I flashed through images of Caylee, a little girl I never met. The raw emotion swept through me and the brutal reality behind all these theatrics and headlines came into full fruition for me.

This little one will never get a chance to get her first kiss from a boy; she'll never get the chance to learn how to ride a bike; or go to the prom. She won't get the chance to have sleepovers, or try for her license.

As a parent who has lost a child, I can tell you that I believe I can somewhat relate to George Anthony after seeing his testimony. It hurts when you lose a child. Your mind is often filled with the question, I wonder what my child would be doing now if he/she were still alive? How would he/she look? The questions tend to run on forever, ending with a long stream of tears.

I would never say that I understand his pain completely, because I haven't walked in this man's shoes. I haven't lived the pain he and his family have lived in the last few years.

This case is about one person - little Caylee and she will be missed. You're an angel now, little Caylee - far removed from the foolishness of this trial and this world.

Troubled family member letter

I admit that I'm not a counselor and everything I say here is my opinion and not the gospel, but this I feel as if some people reading this might need to communicate something to a troubled loved one and might not have the exact words.


Dear _______________

I'll get right to the point, the family is worried about you. Your behavior over the last few months has us deeply concerned.

After seeing you on this path - well it looks like you're headed toward a downward spiral. We want you to get help and turn your life around, but we can't do that for you. And to continue to support you - well we would be enabling you.

So as much as it hurts, we have to take a step back. We don't know why you're making some of the decisions that you're making. We don't know what it is that you're exactly going through, but we do know that its time to step back.

Please know that we'll always love you, but we can't continue on this path.