This morning I saw a CNN report on a Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant who thought one mother took things too far when she and other passengers witnessed the mother slap her crying baby in mid-flight. So, the flight attendant took the baby away. The Flight attendant did return the child to its parents before the plane landed. But they were greeted by police when they got off the plane. Police did check on the child and determined there were no signs of physical abuse. Police then returned the child to the parents…they weren’t cited.

Im not sure if the Flight attendant went to far here. It seems to me that she should have tried to help the mother or ask at least if there was anything she should do and be more aware of the stress of flying with a one year old kid.

On the flip side, I hate being on a plane with a crying baby. It drives me nuts. in fact sometimes I wonder why the parents arent taking more steps to calm to child down! Whether this was the right way to do it, I applaud the mother for doing something…even if she was pushed to the brink!

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Just heard someone complain about illegal immigrants not paying taxes.

There are 3 ways of collecting taxes in the United States, there’s a sales tax, a property tax, and an income tax. Unless illeagal immigrants are going into stores and stealing everything, they’re paying sales taxes just like everybody else is. Unless they live in a cave, they’re paying property taxes because the person who rents them the home is deducting it from their rent, or if they own a home, they’re paying it every time they pay their mortgage. As far as incoming taxes are concerned, the federal Government actually has something for illegal immigrants, as sad as it may be, its called a tax ID number and they are actually able to deduct wages from those illegal immigrants including social security. They deduct it through that tax ID number as a number but not as a name or a person. So that illegal immigrant would be paying into social security without ever being able to get social security.

According to a report from the New York Times, its estimated that illegal immigrants in the United States subsidize the rest of us by as much as $7 billion dollars (Rick Sanchez, CNN) in social security.

Just Saying.

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There comes a point in a man’s life when you have to choose between pursuing your dreams and middle class security. Both are noble paths. Middle class security- a job, a house, a car…the steps that comes with all of that. Pursuing your dreams is full of uncertainty. It usually comes with a lot of scrutiny from the people closest to you. But when your life’s focus is on your dream, theres no end to the possibilities.

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This summer Ive decided that I will try to go to 2-3 new places or do 2-3 new things that Ive never done or been to here in Atlanta. Its all a part of my summer of change, where Im really trying to find a better inner-self, and better respond to people and circumstances around me. Life should be experiential and Im ready to embark on a journey of personal connective growth

This past monday, I decided that I’d head on over to a local neighborhood tavern, Hob Knob and have a looksie! It was pretty funny because I really debated with myself on going. It took me about an hour to actually make the decision to go, citing the pro’s and cons to experiencing this alone. In the end, I went.

The setting:

Around 1am. I had gotten off from work about two hours earlier (again spent time debating). Sat on the patio. There was a slight cool breeze and there was only one other table

What I Loved:

The tavern itself is cool and trendy looking but not too trendy. Bartenders were awesome as well as my server. Although I cant remember her name, she was so cool and down to earth. Suggested some really great specials and I pretty much chose them all. I pretty much loved how laid back and nice the staff was. the patio was great too!

What I Didnt Love So Much:

To get in and to the patio, it seemed like I had to walk through a maze of gating

Random Thoughts:

I wonder what it would be like during high volume time.

Experience:

Im glad that I actually went. it felt good to be out so late at such a great place in midtown. It felt good to break away from the routine of work, then work, then more work.

The Deets:

Their website

Their Facebook

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Ego vs Love, or Love vs Ego, but never Ego AND Love because they’re always at war.

Billy Bragg said, Love is like being on ride at the family fair. You certainly want to get off because its scary but as soon as you’re off, you wanna get on again. Thats the uncertainly you get by embracing Ego. John Lennon compared love to a flower, that it needs time to grow. Thats the responsibility, the reward of having Love.

These two are adversaries, always in competition with each other. Love is happy with commitment but jealous of the excitement that comes with ego. Ego embraces the adventure but misses out on the consistency that Love has. At the end of the day, neither are the right choice. But its give and take.

The totally crappy part is that both options affect other people. Its not just about you. On top of having to figure out all of this, you have to consider someone else, someone else who is trying to figure it out. And when you make a mistake, there are consequences; consequences that affect not just you and the charts and graphs in your head that keeps track of all of this information, but consequences that affect the people closest. That part isn’t fair.

Love.

Ego.

Maybe I hope as you get older, you’re ego becomes less of a priority and you just need love. What do you think?

Click here to play a song Im feeling right now

(Excerpts from Neistat)

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This saying comes from the days when dairy animals were milked by hand into a pail. Milk does get spilled occasionally when the pail is tipped over, and then there simply is no getting it back into the pail.

The other night I was carrying some cream over to a table for their coffee and tripped a little, spilling a drop on the floor. A coworker noticed and as I said, “oh man”, she followed up with, “don’t cry over spilled milk meeks”. As witty as this was, it got me thinking about the phrase and the meaning behind it. So with my curious nature, I proceeded to google the phrase and see what I could find. What I found was what is in the quote section above.

Ive realized that we’ve become a society of complainers. Im not gonna lie, I count myself as one as well. We complain more than we celebrate.

There is a non profit group out there seeking to lessen the amount of complainers out there in the world. They say complaints are by its very definition, negative. Constant complainers are putting all sorts of negative energy out there. They want you to mind your mouth for 21 days, its the amount of time it takes folks to form new habits. They have a little bracelet that you can order (a la livestrong bracelets) to put on your wrist. The idea is that every time you feel that you want to complain, you just take the bracelet and move it wrist to wrist.

Its a cool idea.

Look, we do complain to much. Often times there are legitimate reasons for complaining. I believe in being in charge of your life though and it seems to me that if you stop complaining, change your life variables, you’ll get somewhere…maybe to that shiny nice place somewhere over the rainbow.

So pick your battles, let the small things go. If the milk is accidentally spilled out of the pail, move forward!

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I’ve started a new daily (and sometimes multiple times a day) tradition where I tweet a picture showing exactly what is happening in that very moment. These pictures can be of places I am at, food I am eating, people that i am talking to, etc. And every week I will

…

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This is just unreal

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(June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress and dancer.

Horne joined the mike chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the films Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather. Due to the Red Scare and her progressive political views, Horne found herself blacklisted and unable to get work in Hollywood.

Returning to her roots as a nightclub performer, Horne took part in the March on Washington in August 1963, and continued to work as a performer, both in nightclubs as well as television, and releasing well received albums. Horne announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than three hundred performances on Broadway, and earned her numerous awards and accolades. Horne recorded sporadically following the show, but no longer made public appearances. -Wikipedia

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