Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

As the news about the LA school "threat" flashed across the T.V., I just shrugged and said to myself, yet another hoax. Then one of the police officials stood at the bank of microphones and said those magical two words,  "credible threat", my ears perked. The sad reality in today's news either something tragic happens and we shake our heads or there's a threat, it is overblown and the finger pointing ensues. The ongoing theme is, "The good guys have to be right\ part of the time, the bad guys on;y have to  be right once. However a third dimension is the bad guys are turning the good guys bad because people overreact. The flip side is the moment we let our guard down, the bad guys attack. There is always a chance the threat is real and all threats are to be taken seriously. The  events of today made people uneasy, especially because it was a school and there have been too manhy horrific events  targeting schools in recent years.  Even though nothing hap...

We all remember the "Clock Boy" incident where a young,` yes Muslim,high school student disassembled an alarm clock threw it in a shoe box then took it to school? Though technically he didn't "build" anything, he took something partially apart and put it in a different box. He did absolutely no electronic assembly what-so-ever. even I could disassemble a clock and throw it in a metal box and say I built new clock.It had wires coming out of it and it did look weird, though I wouldn't have called it a "bomb" Of course in this day in age the school thought it looked suspicious when he showed the clock to the teacher, the teacher warned him having something like that might concern people. It did and he was sent to the principal's office where the principal said the "invention" looked dangerous and called the police. This was after he was given plenty of time to explain to school officials what the device could do, and refused. Let'...

 Democrats insist the ongoing problems in the Middle  East can't be solved b y the United States, especially with military actions. The insist defeating ISIS is just one big game of whack-a-mole and we need to pull out and let the fire burn itself out. They said the Iraq war was a mistake from day one and they best thing to do is to leave the area completely. People against the war seem to think while Saddam was a brutal dictator, he did keep some stability in the region. Some claim since he didn't have WMD's, even though years later Bush was actually proved right, didn't pose a threat to the United States proving to some the entire war was one big mistake and it did the opposite of the main goal, made the world less safe The problem is because nobody knew if Saddam definitely had WMD. However people in Iraq are living better, they are having elections and yes they are better of without Saddam, it has just taken a longer time than anyone expected and there's still a...

Well another successful Garden State Meet has come and gone! Once again American Legion Post 157 opened its doors to just shy of 50 collectors coming from as far away as Arizona joined members from up and down the eastern seaboard for another wonderful day of collecting. Setup began just shy of the official start time of 8AM, by the time official trading began, the hall was filled with activity. Adam Garstka not only served as the official photographer for the meet, he brought a wonderful display of early Connecticut plates and licenses. He was accompanied by Dave Kuhen, always wonderful to see Dave in New Jersey. We had some new faces at the meet this year including brothers Jon and Phil Leib, both with encyclopedic knowledge of New Jersey license place history. I wish we had more time to chat Convention Chairman Ned Flynn urged members to make their reservations for the 2016 ALPCA Convention in Fort Wayne. Jason DeCesare was one of the most entertaining auctionee...

First and foremost my thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted by the shootings in Oregon. Too often we have seen people resort to voilence to solve problems. Too many times we have seen guns in the hands of emotionally unstable people, who don't follow a routine that hhelps them live a productive life. Not enough people recognize the warning signs to help[ these people. It bothers me we have seen tragedy yet to have a serious discussion about mental health . We have become the "fix it now society" where we want to take a little magic pill to make things all filled with rainbows and puppy dogs. The problem with this is the side effects. Every drug avertised comes with a laudry list of side effects, hair loss, sexual problems, weight gain, and yes DEATH. Prescription drug overdoses cause more deaths in this country than guns. Yet there are less restrictions on prescription drugs than guns. You can transport these drugs across state borders no problem, sell them ...

When people called Bruce Jenner a 'hero when he came out, declared himself a woman and c hanged his name to Kate, i cringed. I cringed at the fact he was called a "hero", because while she may have gave other transgendered people a voice they need, she didn't 'struggle".  She was met with overwelming support and when even  a hint of negative feedback was sensed, Kate's supporters pounced.  Words like "intolerance'" and throw-backs to the Civl Rights movement were immediately invoked. the difference is with the way news travels, the 'haters" were squelched before it hint the evening news. people say Caitlyn inspired other transgendered people to stand up for trheir rights, which should be applauded, but when is enough is enough? 1 When does the pendulum swing too far in the other direction? Enter Lila Perry of Missiouri Ms Perry was born male and at the age of 13 came out as being gay. A few years later she announced s...

The minute the Rachel Dolezal story broke, I felt ill. It's like somebody sucker-punched me right in the balls/ A white woman posing as a black woman, what's next? I felt betrayed because people with disabilities are often the only ones who get called-out for portraying themselves as "victims". They are still the ones who automatically ands unfairly targeted for being "burdens" because to some degree it''s true. Dolezal's problems where entirely her own doing, she made herself  a target, there's no other way around it.  It's on her birth certificate, it's in her DNA, SHE'S WHITE Yet she insists she is "transracial", a complete farse even in 2015. I don't understand the premise of  "trans-racial" and Im not alone She's not "brave",l  she did not "come out". Her defenders have said Dolezal had to  struggle with "racial idenity" the ways some gays, lesibans and transgended p...

All I can say and will say is ENOUGH. I talked it  over with  one of my "liberal" f riends privately and she agrees I NEVER POSTED ANYTHING RACIAL DURING THESE LAST FEW DAYS. Some of you seem to forget as much as you think I'm "priveledged" (and in some ways I real ly am) I have indeed gotten the short end of the stick in life. I have been "abused' in my life and been treated unfairly, I KNOW what anger is, trust me I have let it get thye better of me more times than I care to admit. I KNOW the system isn't perfect and plenty of know I have even tried to CHANGE IT PEACEFULLY. Someone says I have   "white priviledge" I makes me want to mother fucking puke. I'm, everything BUT "privledged" These protesters aren't human they're fucking animals and it has nothing to do with the color of their skin. BTW YES I DO  SUPPORT THE POLICE not all police. Of course there are bad cops, but here's a fucking clue THEY'RE  ...

SPRING POEM BY J. MATTES Spring is here at last If you believe that you're smoking grass Winter can pucker up and kiss my ass I'll cope with some whiskey in a glass Spring ISN'T HERE at last!

Here  are some of my status updates I posted on Facebook, kind of like a journal. At  times I didn't want to go, for a variety of reasons, but I went anyway. I also have to admit I did my fair share of complaining. Due to the scheduling of the transportation company I usually arrived a half hour early. I couldn't read there were to many distractions. I texted friends, who usually answered while I was in therapy. My mom joked it got me out of the house which was good for all of us. It was also interesting I was .telling mom and dad things going on there and told Becky, the OT,  stuff going on at home and in Cape May.  She knows about Kristi and Sean's wedding, and yes the story behind getting a date. Anyway the material wasn't good enough for full-blown blog entries, but perfect for Facebook Status Updates So here it is one of the goals of the OT is me living more independently so we're getting into cutting food food prep, and cooking. My plan cook a meal for ...

It started a little over a year ago I was falling more, my folks kept reminding me they were doing too much for me and wouldn't be around forever and I honestly felt like my body was getting tighter. I joined the Y MCA for swimming a few days a week, it helped some  but I was falling more and losing control of my body. Years of  "you need to get yourself to a gym" couldn't be ignored any more.  Last May I went to see the orthopedic doctor down at Kessler Rehab, she said it was time I consider going back to PT and OT, twice a week for eight weeks. She wanted to start over the summer, the first summer we had the new house in Cape May. My mom and I looked at each other in horror. What would we tell my dad?  It was decided I could wait until fall, then we agreed January after the holidays. With the transportation in place, for the most part I s The PT was very straight forward, I work with the machines to build up strength and to loosen my body. He said we ,need to get...

Sitting here during this latest bout of bad weather I tried to come up with an entry.  Well nothing came to mind until I started reading other people's blogs. Then the light bulb went offf, why don't I share the blogs I read with other people? I picked five blogs  I read on a regular basis. Meaning whenever they post, I read. While I was at it I sent a blanket to them describing what I was doing. The Back Bumper by Jon Upton- Jon is a fellow license plate collector from Ontario Canada who composes in-dept posts about different aspects of the hobby. From collecting in general to more technical aspects like restoration. I like his humor and thoroughly enjoy  his take on the hobby. Being from Canada I have to get used to the spelling. I have been reading his blog the longest Love That Max by Ellen Seideman--  While searching for people with Cerebral Palsy who blog, I came across Love That Max written from a mom's point-of-view about her son Max with CP. What dr...

I  was going to write the post prior to the game, but like many posts, it just never panned out. The game itself was amazing, but since the Seattle Sehawks got robbed of a vback-to-back victory, I'm going to dance around the main event. First off m y favorite commercial has to be t he Budweiser "lost puppy" commercial.  I do n't often pat myself on the back but I commented everywhere I saw the commercial, "a puppy and horses, how could you go wrong." However the group Sleeping at Last did a slowed down version of the  song "500 Miles" originally made famous by the Proclaimers. I remember the first time I heard the Proclaimers version, it was  in my local barber shop during a haircut. I have since watched the commercial a million times. The entire commercial is simply brillant.  I get a lump in my throat whenever I hear the hay in the stall start to russle. All puppies are playful, always getting into trouble and always very cute. It's t he endi...

A few months ago I wrote about how I am a big Billy Joel fan and have joined a Facebook group called Billy Joel Retold for Billy Joel fans. Now I think saying I'm a huge fan isn't completely true bec ause I haveen't been to a concert YET, but that's not because of lack of trying.  I joined the page because I actually wanted to learn what other people feel about his music. On the whole it's a very cool group and I even chatted with his former drummer, Liberty Devitto, a few times. However I find mysef not getting involved in most of the discussions because they just don't seem too interesting. The topics seem to get stale very quickly and I have Writing that  in itself would make s ome people in the group  cringer, even go as far as calling me a troll. The thing of it is, I just like Billy Joel's music, that's it. I also have read a lot of his lyrics a nd studied them basically because people forget musicians who write their own lyrics are indeed poets at...

Well i t has been in the works since before Thanksgiving, even back during 4th of July. My folks wanted to have a big New Years Eve party with their friends down in Cape May. During our trip down there Thanksgiving weekend, my frien Angie, who I met at the VFW announce she's holding a fundraise for her ranch NYE. Something of a tradition for her and the VFW, so I wanted to support it.  Also I knew I'd be spending a lot of time there since my folks had a full house of their friends. For some reason  I hi t it off right with all o f them, maybe because they found out early that I don't take any punches without throwing a few of my own. Also in Woodcliff Lake when we were growing up my brothers had neighbors in back of us to escape our hou se fore a while, maybe this i s a little payback for all those years of seeing them have fun so accesible from out house.   My dad joined pretty much right after we moved in, however I kind of hijacked his kmembership! This was going ...