Archive for December, 2012

What’s Next For Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT?

Yesterday it was announced that the students, teachers of faculty will be using a nearby school for the remainder of the school year.

The students will be using Chalk Hill Middle School as their new school.  It was mentioned that this school has been sitting empty for the past two years as the previous students were moved into a new school.  Apparently this school is large enough to handle the necessary number of classrooms and space needed for the Sandy Hook Elementary students.

So what’s going to happen to the Sandy Hook Elementary School after the police finish their investigation?

Will it ever be used as a school again?

Those questions and more are still being debated by that the parents and administrators in that school’s district.  As far as I know, no official decisions have been publicized yet as it’s still very early into the decision making process for the future of the school.  All of the investigations have to finish before a final decision about the future of the school can be agreed upon.

I’ve been reading the comments for articles about the school and what other people are saying for the future of the school.  Some people are on the bandwagon where the school building should be demolished and they need to build a playground and memorial on its spot.  Other people say that the students shouldn’t have to set foot inside the building again since they’ve been traumatized enough by the massacre.

The key thing here is that it’s best for both the students and teachers to get back into the normal routine of being in school again.  It’s obvious that the classes for that school are cancelled for this week with respect to the funerals and those who lost family and friends in the shooting massacre.  This is a tough week for everybody associated with the school.  Although the Christmas and New Year holidays start less than a week from now and won’t be joyous for those people, those couple of weeks off will help the victims’ friends and families begin the recovery process. Read more…

The Clueless Restaurant Owner, Part II

Today we have another crushing tale of when EVIL and STUPIDITY reign supreme, and once again an INNOCENT PERSON is getting screwed completely by a restaurant’s CLUELESS owner!

Over a month ago I told the tale (The Clueless Restaurant Owner) about how the owner of a restaurant franchise in the metro Atlanta area completely screwed the assistant store manager (ASM) out of a well-earned job despite all her hard work and sacrifices.

Since the writing of that article, the ASM stayed with the company as an hourly employee.  The store’s owner was surprised when she showed up for work the next day after being severely demoted.  So were many of the workers.  Apparently the GM was informing the work force that the AGM would no longer be working there.

A day or two later the store’s owner “heavily encouraged” the AGM to quit her job.  The reason he wanted the ASM to walk away was that if he fired her without a solid reason (and he had none whatsoever), then she could have collected unemployment.  Keep in mind that it would have been unemployment at her pay as a salaried manager.  But if she were to walk away on her own then she could not get unemployment.

So the ASM stayed with the company as an hourly employee and things continued with their normal pattern for the next couple of weeks.  All the problems that were still in the restaurant were, oddly enough, still there despite the lazy and incompetent general manager.

And then all of a sudden complaints began arriving . . . AGAINST THE STORE’S GENERAL MANAGER.  At one point even corporate was involved with the complaints.  That’s how bad it was against the store’s GM.  But how could that happen?  The restaurant’s general manager was the store owner’s “go to” guy when it came to customer service.  He supposedly was a people person.

These complaints against the general manager were proof of the general manager’s mood swings, something that the crew members knew quite well and feared.  One moment he was a nice and friendly guy, and the next he was an angry jackass who tried to take his rage out on anybody and everybody.  Lately his mood swings were catching up with him and apparently he was pissing off too many customers.  For a f*cking general manager of all people, this is completely unacceptable. Read more…

Connecticut School Shooting Massacre — When Evil Prevails

Today’s school shooting massacre in Newtown, Connecticut was an evil event of an epic scale.

It’s horrible enough when a single innocent life is lost because of an evil person.  When you multiple that by twenty-six (including TWENTY elementary school children), it’s no longer a tragedy or disaster.  We’ve moved well beyond those terms.  An event like this is simply indescribable.

We know that the parents, siblings and friends of those murdered today are in a living hell right now.  A sudden death in the family is not easy to cope with, especially when it occurs to somebody so young with their whole life ahead of them.  To have that life stolen because of somebody else’s actions is simply horrific.

As the parents and acquaintances are grieving in pain, some people are already getting back on the wagon for universal gun control.  Not just assault weapons, but ALL firearms.

We heard sports commentator Bob Costas go on an anti-gun rant after Kansas City Chiefs’ player Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend and then committed suicide on December 2, 2012.

We heard more anti-gun talk after the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting during the premier of The Dark Knight Returns on July 20, 2012.

And of course, we heard more anti-gun talk after Jared Lee Loughner tried to assassinate Arizona representative Gabrielle Giffords on January 8, 2011.

Whenever major shootings occur, people jump to the conclusion that the guns are the problem and therefore guns must be removed from society.  This is typically a knee-jerk reaction that normally doesn’t gain much momentum, but we’re seeing more and more people calling for such an action after more of these high-profile shootings occur.

The truth is that gun control laws aren’t going to do a damn thing about this problem in society. Read more…

Movie Review – Ted (2012)

What do you get when the creator of the cartoon shows “Family Guy” and “American Dad!” makes a live-action movie?

Not only does the creator of the shows make a live-action movie, but he also brings along some of the same cast members and most of the old jokes with him.

The answer is 2012′s comedy movie, Ted.  Directed, co-produced, co-written, and starring as the voice of the vulgar and obnoxious teddy bear is Seth MacFarlane.  In “Family Guy,” MacFarlane also provides the voices for the father, Peter Griffin, the family’s dog, Brian, and the family’s toddler, Stewie Griffin.  MacFarlane also provides the voice for Stan Smith, the father of the family, in “American Dad!”

Ted also stars Mark Wahlberg as John Bennett, Ted’s best friend.  Mila Kunis (voice of Meg Griffin in “Family Guy”) plays the role of Lori Collins, an office worker and John’s steady girlfriend.  Patrick Warburton (voice of Officer Joe Swanson in “Family Guy”) has a small role as John’s co-worker, and Ted is narrated by Patrick Stewart (assorted voice roles in “Family Guy,” voice of CIA Deputy Director Avery Bullock in “American Dad!”).

Ted (2012) – (c) Universal Pictures

Ted begins in Boston, Massachusetts, as a lonely boy, John Bennett, wishes he had a friend.  On Christmas morning, John is thrilled when he receives a teddy bear as a gift from his parents.  He likes the bear so much that he wishes it was real.  Sure enough, the teddy bear (named Ted) comes to life one day and quickly becomes John’s friend.  His parents are startled at first by the walking and talking teddy bear, but they overcome their fears.  John has a best friend for life, and Ted quickly becomes a famous celebrity. Read more…

Michigan Trip – Detroit, Frankenmuth, Food & More! – November 2012

Back in early November, my family received news that my dad’s aunt, my great aunt, died from complications of dementia and whatnot.

Technically, we really didn’t receive word about it directly from our relatives.  My second cousin made mention of it on Facebook and we took it from there.  My great aunt turned a bunch of family members against my parents and I, and those bad feelings are still lingering in some people.  Considering the intentional lack of sentiment from those people when my brother died two years ago, those so-called family members are dead to me.

My dad still wanted to go to Michigan and pay his respects, so I joined him for the trip.  We planned to stay up in the Detroit area for a few days and make the most of our time up north.

National Museum of the United States Air Force – Dayton, Ohio

The drive from Atlanta to Detroit was divided into two days.  We normally make the entire drive in one day, but my dad and I both wanted time to visit the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio.

The best way to see the museum is when it first opens at 9 am each weekday.  You’ll have the museum to yourself for a few hours before school kids and more tourists arrive.

The National Museum of the USAF is one of the best aviation museums you’ll find in this country.  There are hundreds of aircraft exhibits spaced throughout three large hangers, taking you on a journey through the history of the U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Air Force.  A fourth hanger is scheduled to be constructed starting in 2013 with an opening slated for 2015. Read more…

Best Buy’s Disturbing Apple Christmas TV Commercial

Recently I caught sight of Best Buy’s TV commercial featuring Apple products and the Christmas theme.

It’s one thing to advertise your selection of products in a store.  It’s another to demonstrate the products in such a manner that children are indirectly placed in grave danger.  At what point does an innocent TV commercial become a parent’s worst nightmare?

This commercial for Apple products at Best Buy tries to be innocent with Santa Claus as the person that the boy is trying to meet.  We see how easy it is for a child to try to not only find a person’s address (Santa Claus in this case), but also book a flight (or at least attempt to), send that person an e-mail, or even conduct a video chat with that person.  When you take into account the dangers of child predators and deranged people who intentionally alter their identity online, with the goals of deceiving and trying to harm others, all of a sudden this Best Buy commercial is quite disturbing.

Best Buy TV commercial – “Gifts That Do: Finding Santa”

Best Buy TV commercial (2012) – Gifts That Do: Finding Santa

The Best Buy TV commercial starts out innocent with a Best Buy worker telling a mother that their store has all the latest Apple products, and you can do anything with those gifts.  This gets the attention of the mother’s son and the commercial goes downhill from there. Read more…