October 25, 2012 · 4:29 pm

The President: “To Respect Or Not To Respect?”

Well ladies and gentlemen, the hour is upon us.

In just a few weeks our country will be voting on its next President. I promised myself I wouldn’t begin writing on this particular subject matter…mostly because I think it’s a controversial topic of discussion, quick to pit friends and family members against one another and I hardly have the desire or time to argue with my readers. The other reason I have for not wanting to open the proverbial “can of worms” that is political conversations is the simple fact that there are hundreds of issues to discuss regarding politics. There are multiple candidates to choose from, numerous positions and stands that each of them represents, bills and laws to concur with that each of them may or may not pass…not to mention the moral, religious, economical, judiciary and scholastic views they represent.

…but I digress.

One area of the political world I would like to quickly rant on is the bad-mouthing, poo-flinging and general disrespect I constantly see hurled in the direction of the office of the President of this country. I remember when the title of Commander In Chief deserved a salute or a handshake, regardless of one’s political opinion or vote. I remember when this country used to respect the office of the President of the United States simply because it was what it was.

Now we have millionaire, attention-hungry windbags like Donald Trump throwing money at it like it’s a street whore.

I’m not saying that I’m a fan (or not) of our current President, or even the one before him. (As I mentioned earlier, I’ll keep who I did and didn’t vote for to myself…no arguments for me today) It just seems to me that all we ever do as Americans now is curse the President, talk about him on television, berate him with signs in our front yards and now publicly offer him money to do something just because we feel it should be done. Perhaps it’s my “old school” way of thinking, but the President is not some “friend of ours”. He’s not some clown who’s paid to be laughed at. He’s not some showgirl or pole-dancer on a platform showing skin for dollars.

He’s the President.

It’s true we can think what we want about him as obviously not all of us voted for him, but when we start to do these “public finger-pointing sessions” I have to admit it really breaks my heart as an American. I can’t imagine someone calling their boss (or their spouse’s boss) names on Facebook. I can’t imagine someone calling their parents (or their friend’s parents) something other than sir or m’am in public. I can’t imagine someone trash-talking a general, veteran or Supreme Court judge to their faces. Why? Because I believe their title earns them a certain amount of respect publicly regardless of how they may feel about them privately. Yet, the leader of our country, the one person we as American should at least treat like a human being when we come across him…gets spit on metaphorically and belittled verbally as if he were our worst enemy.

It’s sad, pathetic and I’m vehemently opposed to it.

We should know better than that America…and we should be ashamed of ourselves.

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October 20, 2012 · 4:48 pm

“A Quick Bit Of Facebook Advice.”

Yes.

We’ve all heard the warnings. We all know someone that has a sad story to tell. We’ve all almost become victims ourselves and probably didn’t even realize it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about Facebook privacy.

I don’t want to spend too much time discussing it, but I do want to quickly touch upon one of the areas that would save a lot of you a lot of potentially embarrassing situations. An area that goes hand in hand with my day to day activities: your Facebook photos.

Your Facebook photos can be set in a way so that only the people that are your Facebook friends can see them. You’ve probably acquired tons of them over the years and chances are you don’t want strangers seeing half of them because you’re drinking, throwing up a finger, looking fatter than usual, just waking up or are in some other way being inappropriate. You can hide most of them to the general public by selecting each individual album and setting it from “Public” to “Friends”. This can also be done with the album “Profile Pictures”.

Take my advice…do this.

* Note: Changing these particular settings won’t save you if your boss is your Facebook friend. *

* Secondary Note: Know who your Facebook friends are! *

Your “Cover Photos” however, must remain set to “Public”. This is a general Facebook default setting that can’t be changed. So these are the pictures that the entire planet can see no matter what you do. Make these your cool, impressive, sexy, orphan-saving, churchgoing, non-smoking/drinking/tongue out photos. That way when you apply for a job, start dating someone new, or get stalked by your parents…..you won’t look like a total a**.

Here’s one final piece of advice for those of you who desire to be truly Facebook savvy. The albums in your page can also be set to “Custom”. There are varying degrees of “Custom”, ranging anywhere from “Only Me”, to only someone in a certain group. If you really must post photos of a party that got a tad ‘outta hand’ and you have no other way to get photos to everyone at that party. Simply create an album, change it to “Custom”, then add the names of the individuals at the party one by one. However, if they tag themselves, then all of their friends will be able to see them in that particular photo. Other than that, only your party will be able to see exactly what went on ‘the night before’.

Voila.

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September 6, 2012 · 7:33 pm

“Crazy Little Thing Called Love…”

I’ve seen so many people in my life telling so many others that they “loved” them. I’ve heard folks say they “love” their dogs, their cars and their TV shows. I’ve seen celebrities, athletes and superstars telling crowds of thousands of fans they have never even met that they “love” them.

I’ve even been in relationships where someone has “loved” me at first sight, only to bail on me the moment times got a little tough. I’ve witnessed so many fickle, meaningless, trivial uses of the word “love” that I myself have often wondered about whether or not I knew the true definition of the word.

And then I take one look at my daughter and I realize that I know EXACTLY what love is. It’s that feeling in my soul that lets me know I would do anything for her. It’s that emotional punch in the gut I feel when she’s sad, sick or in pain.

….it’s that indescribable, unavoidable, overwhelming feeling of pure bliss that washes over me when she says “I love you daddy”.

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August 1, 2012 · 3:12 am

“Fearless.”

(photo: Fidel Amos)

Anjeli.

(Taken while on assignment with a group of Mission: Restore surgeons in Dehradun, India last year)

This woman was moments away from being anesthetized and operated on (to remove massive burn-scarring around her neck and chest). The anesthesia she would receive would be local, meaning she’d be numb in the areas that would be cut, but she would remain conscious. She didn’t speak a word of english but listened intently to every word said between the nurses and surgeons. She knew what was about to happen but showed no signs of nervousness or fear…no emotion whatsoever.

– F

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April 28, 2012 · 5:08 am

Fidelis Maximus vs The “Nutella Lawsuit”.

Foreword.

This is in response to an article a friend of mine pointed out to me yesterday in Yahoo! Finance which spoke of a lawsuit against Ferrero, the company that makes Nutella….my favorite chocolate treat of all time. 

The following is an excerpt from said article:

“…Ferrero, the company that manufactures the highly addictive yet apparently not terribly healthy spread, has settled a $3 million lawsuit filed in February 2011 by San Diego mom Athena Hohenberg. Hohenberg, it seems, believed that Nutella was a great dietary choice for her four-year-old daughter. She claimed the company’s advertising — particularly giving TV-ad viewers the idea that Nutella was part of a nutritious breakfast (see ad below) — led to her erroneous perception. But when she realized the spread is about as healthy as your average Snickers bar, she decided it was time to get even — and get cash.”

(Click anywhere in the excerpt above to read the article in its entirety on Yahoo! Finance)

 _____________________

(2010 Nutella Commercial)

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The short of it…?

* I think I can safely say that anyone who decides to sue Nutella because they thought it’d be good for them is an idiot.

* The judge that didn’t throw this case and her out of court is an idiot too.

* And everyone that had anything to do with taking this case to that court in the first place…? They’re idiots as well.

* The fact that this lawsuit (and all lawsuits as idiotic as this one in years past) could even be possible in this country is baffling beyond words and in itself a large enough topic to be discussed at a later date.

* The lawsuit also allows anyone who has bought Nutella in a certain two year span to jump aboard the ‘we didn’t know it was as fattening as we thought it’d be’ train and collect up to $20 as well. For the record, I don’t care if it said ‘the next time Nutella touches Fidel Amos’ lips he’ll die’ on every jar, I wouldn’t support a lawsuit against my beloved Nutella or its makers, Ferrero.

The long of it..?

Athena Hohenberg of San Diego, California seriously thought Nutella was going to be a good dietary choice for her 4-year old..?

Actually, while we’re on that subject, why is her 4-year old on a diet in the first place..? Is she a heavy 4-year old? Perhaps the kind of heavy 4-year old that might be heavy in the first place because she eats everything that her mom places in front of her face..? Could it be that her mother has no idea what to feed her (proven, yes, by her mother’s own admittance of “dietary choice” selection) and that’s why she’s heavy in the first place, with or without the Nutella?

I wonder if the same genius that won Athena her millions will work for me? I wonder if I can convince that lawyer to convince the same judge that Athena had to try my case so I can sue her for A) not only being an idiot for believing any commercial whatsoever that appears on television, but B) for slandering the name of something that has been near and dear to my life ever since I can remember what something sweet tasted like….?”

 

– F

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