9/11 reflections

Today marks sixteen years since our nation was attacked and changed forever.  We say we never forget but what does that really mean? Does it mean we only think about those who were killed today and forget about them tomorrow?  How can we balance remembering them without letting our sorrows stand in the way of living our lives? Wives who no longer have husbands, husbands who no longer have wives, children left without parents. Parents left to grieve for their children; However there is one thing we can do, keep the memories alive. When you say "never forget" that does not mean dwell on  this day to the point that you don't allow happiness back into your lives. We all need times to grieve and times to celebrate, it's part of a process, not of healing but of living, which is what the people who died on that day want for all of us. One of the best ways to honor the memories of those who died on 9/11/01 is pause, remember and then move on. The best way to celebrate a person's life is to live you own life the best you can

There are a few memories I have of 9/11 that I will never forget, they happened they days after. One of them was my small contribution to the efforts. The days after 9/11 the radio traffic was incredible.  I knew there wasn't really a role for me. I wasn't going to hop in a car and fly down to the action, even though I really wanted to help. Also a lot of the ham radio traffic was quick and while I could copy it, relaying it to another station would have been a nightmare. That didn't mean I couldn't listen. I listened what seem non-stop for days. So a few days after   the disaster a ham who was driving all the way up from North Carolina was calling on a repeater and nobody was answering. After hearing him call for the forth time, I decided to bite the bullet and answer. He explained he was driving up to help with the recovery efforts and needed directions. After hearing his request I knew I needed to get another ham on the frequency. So I asked the ham to s-tand by and went to another repeater to summon help. I was rebuffed numerous times by the net control, I finally gave the ham the frequency to net was on When the ham switched over to the net, he asked for the net control and explained he drove all night t get to New York to help. He then had a stern warning for to the net control the he was talk to me and I was trying to get him some help. I sat back and had a chuckle to myself. It was my small contribution, but it felt very good.  The ham radio community lost Robert D. Cirri, KA2OTD, a Port Authority Lieutenant and a member of many radio clubs in the area 

A few months later I was invited to contribute an article to a magazine about what I heard that day and the days after the attacks. One of the main things I remember was in my 20+ years of listening, I n ever heard CAP or Civil Air Patrols. However as soon as the first plane hit, the military frequencies started to light up like a Christmas Tree!! It became a common occurrence. It was exciting and sad at the same. I knew the world would never be the same again!!

Then there's the reflection of living in Woodcliff Lake during that time. New York City is less than 20 miles away. Some people don't realize the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge is Bergen  County. We lost one of our residents, Jack D'ambrosia, in the attacks. I never met him, but they had a dedication for him at the Old Mill baseball field. I would ride past the field and think about him,

9/11 is a national day of mourning, but time does heal some of the wounds. We must never forget what happened while not dwell on it. My heart goes out to anyone who lost a love one in the attacks

Confederates v. Nazis

Before I begin to even dive into the meat of this post, let me stress I AM NOT defending the Confederates OR the Nazis, they were both evil and needed to be defeated. However I am disturbed by the comparison because ironically they are politically opposites. I cringe when people say they are a like because that tells me people don't understand history at all and not understanding bad history makes it more likely for it to repeat itself. I wanted to break it down for myself so I could understand it better. I am disturbed  by people taking statutes of Confederate soldier down by force

When people mention the United States Civil War most say slavery was the only  cause and if the South won they would  still have slaves in 2017. While nobody can tell what it would have been like if the South won, given the technology revolution and the advent of say farm equipment, it's a bet there would be less slaves. Kind of like how there are now more kiosks in fast food joints and even supermarkets, not to mention the advent of conveyor belts. Humans get tired, need food and even the live expectancy was horrible. Slavery would have ended eventually, it didn't end soon enough, but it would have ended. It wasn't economical for people doing work machines could accomplish in half the times There'a no telling if the Civil Rights movement would have been so dramatic, true blacks would still have an uphill battle with equality and there still would have been racial tensions an d mass killings. However the tensions were amplified because the Southern states lost the   Civil War. Their resistance to change grew deeper with resentment. To most, even select Northerners, the Confederate General Robert E Lee, he was a general who fought for his side, and lost. Lee surrendered gracefully at the end of the war and help mend the wounds of one of the darkest times in our nation's history. Not exactly a man one would call "evil", is it? THIS man is represented with statues and paintings t hroughout the South

In 1939 when Adolf Hitler came to power he did so when Germany was in economic an social shambles. He need a scapegoat to blame, the Jews. He said  these people needed to be exterminated in order to create a "master race" of white, blonde-haired people. Ironically, unlike the Confederates, who only targeted  blacks, Hitler set his sights not only Jews, but gays, gypsies and anyone else who didn't fit into the "master race. Unlike Lee Hitler was a coward who used hate to  spread his vile views and wouldn't stop until his "enemies" were wiped off the face of the Earth! Hitler NEEDED to be not only defeated, but committed suicide because /he WOULDN'T surrender. He wouldn't stop until every Jew was wiped off the face of the earth! He would have invaded the entire world if  he wasn't stopped!!

At the end of the day Lee was graceful, Hitler was just evil. Lee knew he was defeated and slavery was coming to an end. Hilter never would ave accepted defeat. Both men were on the wrong side of an awful history. However one man chose to try to unite people, while the other did everything he could to divide them

Daily Voice is bad news

How do I respond to being banned from a Facebook group?  Mock the website that got me kicked out of the group in t he first place. I was going to say boycott at first but then I disobeyed my own boycott. Also I need to look at it in order to mock it. Anyway I read it to get a good chuck every now and then. With the terms "fake news" being thrown all over the internet I decided, BAD NEWS was m ore appropriate for the Daily Voice. Bad news because the stories are basically short misinformed rants with poorly researched material and erros glalore. They get the when and the where correct but that's usually where the facts end

Daily Voice is  heavily self-promoting, which is the tell-tale sign of desperation in the business. It would be one thing if they had their own Facebook page and just distrubuted their news on there. However the two main "writers" constantly post their own works on multiple Facebook pages.  On more then a few occasions they have been challenged on some of their "facts" and have become very defensives about their writing, what little they have to defend. They rush to get the story out ad if sokme comments they have a set of Internet trolls leaping to their defense. Most of the stories were boring, like who really wants to read about an activate alarm at a shopping mall?  What else   is when you post a link to a Facebook usually you give a little preview/. The one thing the Davily Voice has going for it is it knows how to get good "click bait".

This is the evolution of an article on the the Daily Voice website. One of their "writers" trolls incident notification pages, finds usually a boring event that tthey can  write about, then sits waits for commentsa. If it's a police incident, like a car accident or fire, they usaully hop on the incident raeporting boards to scull information to throw together a sloppy article. Then they post their "stories. It doesn't bother some people most people ignore it, but I just can't let it slide.

If you think I'm trying to "censor them", you aren't even close. I don' what them shut down, then where kwould I get the material for this post? I actually will still continue to read their dribble. However I will call them out when I see something I don't l/ike

Fly the Flag

I FLY THE F LAG 

I fly the flag on the back of my scooter because I stand with the men and women in ALL kinds of uniforms.

I fly the flag   because I know even though I am no t always proud of my country, I am still proud t o be in this country

I fly the flag in times of sorrow because it is a reassurance that everything will be alright

I fly the flag during parades out of respect out of everyone who marches

I fly the flag every time someone in the service gives his or her life so I can live mine

I fly the flag out of respect for the military  police, fire, medical and other emergency workers who protect me and  people I love

I fly the flag to remind myself no matter what comes my way I am blessed to have so many wonderful people who care about me

I fly the flag because I pray every day those leading our nation find a way to make the country great for everyone.

I fly the flag as a symbol of hope and a promise to never lose hope even in the darkest of times

I fly the flag the red represents the blood that was spilled defending this country, the white represents the innocence, the blue represents we are all under one sky and in this together

I flag the flag because whenever someone smiles or waves at me I know they're also acknowledging the flag

I fly the flag because I support the ideas and fundamentals that founded this country and continues to make it strong

I fly the flag proudly because every time I see the flag I am reminded how lucky I am to have  these freedoms


The shooting in Virginia is on every body's mind and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims. Every time a tragedy like this happens,  people are always preaching how we need to put aside our  differences and focus on things that unite us as a country. Personally I can't think of a better thing to unite us than Old Glory. In times of doubt it's comforting to turn to something that should makes us all proud.

Thanks Gregg Allman

There are too many good Allman  Brother's songs I could write about, my two favorites are Jessica written by Dickey Betts and Midnight Rider by none other then Gregg Allman. The song to me is about a loner weary motorcycle rider and his journey t o a better life. However the longer he rides, eventually he realizes he can't outrun he's problems, hence the phrase "The road goes on forever". It's n ot really a cheery lyric but the hook is a slap of reality everybody needs frome time to time. However the other part of it goes "I'm no t going to let them catch the midnight rider" which to me means  he       won't let all his problems in life ruin his life. They  almost did a few times, but in the end I hope All;man made peace wit h himself. The  "Them" are multiple demons, the murder of his father and losing h is brother, Duane, in a horrific motorcycle accident, drugs, illness you name it, Gregg Allman surviived it Truthfully I don't think he could  have written the song if he didn't have these and other demons haunting him.

Both my brothers are huge  Allman Brother's fans, my one brother saw them more times than  I could even attempt to count. Ever March right  around our birthdays he would scoop up tickets with his friends. They would go to multiple concertss at the Beacon Theate\r. One year, I don't know how, he invited our other brother and myself along with some friends to the Beacon for the anual concert. Of course he just seen them a few days before. What made it special was we were together, enjoying music, laughing and creating meories I will cherish forever. We knew each time we saw the Allman Brothers could be the last and every time the curtain came down it might never come up again. I was disappointed the first few times they didn't play  Jessica but that changed the last time we saw them  at the Beaco. I turned to them with the biggest grin on my face, they know how I felt whenever I  listen to that song.

Then came last Christmas rolled around and  my brothers again surprised by tickets  to see Gregg Allmann solo at the Sands in Bethlehem,PA. I jumped at the chance but during the concert I noticed time was catching up to Gregg Allman. It was just the three of us hanging out and having a good time just like so many times before

When  I heard of Gregg's passing my first thought was  he's finally reunited with his older brother and other bandmates he lost over the years. Their deaths certainly were a heavy tool on his own life. The only good things from Gregg's death is the fact he's finally reunited with people he loves and no longer has those demons haunting him.They are  up there jamming away! !

T hanks Gregg for all the memories you gave me with my brothers! May you finally have the peace that you have been seeking for a very long time