Monday, December 31, 2012

Who Is He Really Representing?

A Connecticut lawyer wants to sue the state over the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting.

Irving Pinsky says the state failed to provide a safe setting.

He's pursuing 100 million dollars in damages on behalf of an unidentified 6 year old girl who survived the massacre.


So.... who is Pinsky really representing? 

Does anyone really believe that the State of Connecticut is responsible for the actions of Adam Lanza?  I am certain that even Pinsky does not believe this. His claim is nothing more than a further victimization of those families that lost their loved ones and those poor souls who were lost on that day.

Even if Pinsky prevails and the surviving victim and the families of the 26 fatalities split the potential award, Pinsky himself would stand to receive the standard 1/3 attorney compensation.

Is Pinsky attempting to provide a balm for the families? Is he taking a stance that would help to curb the possibility of future violence? Or is he merely taking a stab at the possibility of receiving $33,000,000 personally? 

Some form of gun control may or may not be a partial answer to this epidemic of mass murder.  Civil suit reform on the other hand would at least protect society from the passive/agressive psychotics like Pinsky who prey on the misfortune of the victims by pretending to represent them. 

I offer this.. curbing nefarious lawsuits, irresponsible media, and greedy partisan politicians may not curb gun violence, but it sure would make this a better country.

Meanwhile, Pinsky is as sick as Adam Lanza and should be disbarred.

Royalton Road School. North Royalton, Ohio


Sunday, December 30, 2012

School Days in the NR

Today I am enjoying a thread on Facebook with several dear old friends who I went to school with back in the dark ages. We grew up together in a little town in Ohio; North Royalton. Through this wonderful media called social networking we have been able to reunite after many years...

Todays topic... Royalton Road School.  It was one of the original structures in North Royalton, and even by 1960 standards it was old with a capital O.

Imagine if today parents sent their kids to a school with some of these features;

Construction of sandstone block, soft enough to drill through with a pencil. ( as I did in attempt to get the attention of Kathi....

A center gymnasium/stage with footlights so hot, that if the wooden covers remained in place and someone accidentally turned on the footlights, the covers would catch on fire.

Every room of the building had steam heating pipes running through them covered by... you guessed it; asbestos... not only asbestos though, asbestos that was crumbling and peeling off every pipe.

Cafeteria tables made of old bowling alley lanes from a remodeled bowling alley. ( The Red Eye, for you Royaltonites)

The shower rooms looked like something out of a German concentration camp. The concrete floors had no covering or treatment, so they were in constant "crumble" mode. The ceilings were only 6 feet high, so the bare light bulbs hanging from the exposed heating pipes were always in danger of bursting if splashed or worse yet, touched by a wet body. ( luckily we were elementary kids and none of us were  6 feet tall!) But the best feature was the holes in the wall separating the boys from the girls shower room... teachers had to stand guard to prevent the much sought after opportunity to look through the holes!

Probably the best overall feature of the building was the southeast stairwell that had been declared "unfit" by the city building engineers, so no more than one person at a time could use the stairwell. Eventually, all the stairwells were declared unsound so all classes were held on the first floor only.

Ya know what though... some of the best memories were born in that place, and the dearest people in this world traversed those hallways... and.... we survived!


Monday, December 24, 2012

A Letter To Congress

Dear Congress;

It is Christmas Eve.  You and the other "representatives of the
people" have returned home from Washington to enjoy this blessed
holiday with your families. As you do so, the fiscal future of this
entire country hangs in the balance. With it go the hopes and dreams
of real people, people who do NOT have a lifetime salary and health
care, real people that do NOT make salaries in excess of $100,000,
real people who struggle every day to pay their living expenses and
increasing taxes, real people who struggle to pay mortgages and real
estate taxes on homes that have depreciated in value by more than 20%,
real people who despite working hard all their lives and doing the
right thing, have no chance of ever retiring.  These are the people
who you are failing to represent as you bicker and argue issues that
are based purely on lobbyist driven party lines.

Your failure to properly manage the finances of this country and then
delay appropriate measures to avoid a catastrophe are borderline
treasonous. At best these failures are cause for a complete recall of
all representatives.

Continual blame on the present Presidential leadership or on past
administrations is ludicrous as most of you have been in office long
enough to have played a part in this mess.

It is time to actually represent the people that sent you to
Washington, not the businesses who care only about their own bottom
line and/or your own bank accounts and investments.

The mood of this country is desperate. Crime and sociopathic attacks
are rising due to the economic attack waged on the poor and the middle
class.

Each of you pledged to make a difference as you campaigned, but have
failed to do anything more than your predecessors.

Real tax reform would eliminate the IRS and replace it with a national
consumption tax. This would be the fairest  form of taxation as those
who can afford to spend would pay "tax" based on their ability to
spend, as those with less money would pay based on their ability to
spend. It would both reduce government spending  and increase
revenues. You all know this, but refuse to implement it as it would
reduce the level of control the current system gives you over the
population.

Real political reform would eliminate your permanent salaries and
health care and pay you a capped salary in line with the national
average salary WHILE  you are in office.

Health care reform would eliminate employer paid health plans and send
everyone to insurance shop as we do now with automobile insurance.
This would force insurance companies to reduce premiums and in turn
would drive DOWN the cost of healthcare.

These solutions would take work. They would anger the insurance
companies, and would make most congressional representatives leave
their currently cushy posts.

Prove me wrong. Return to Washington on December 26 and drop the party
lines and start working toward solutions that will actually preserve
this union and protect the interests of REAL people.

Sincerely,

James F Szakacs
19015 Bennett Road
North Royalton, Ohio 44133
Jfs5487@gmail.com
440-263-8125



Jim Szakacs -Sent from my iPad