My Back Pages

My Back Pages: The Politics of Hate :    I remember when President Barack Obama was elected. Suddenly, I had my email inbox filled with so many emails calling him an illegitimate...

   I remember when President Barack Obama was elected. Suddenly, I had my email inbox filled with so many emails calling him an illegitimate president. So much hatred was directed at this man, from so many people that I counted as friends. Now... let me just tell you, I did not vote for the President in his first election. I didn't vote for him because I thought, at the time, that he did not have enough experience to be President. First of all, he had only been a Senator for a short time. Secondly,  and I say this with some distress today... I admired John McCain for his honor, and his service to this country.   When President Obama ran for reelection, he had won us over. His talk of hope, and the example that he set, along with his beautiful wife, won me over. Race was never an issue. Religion, I could care less about. Yet, so many Americans called all of this into play. I had friends inundate my email with hateful anti-Obama emails. They called in...

My Back Pages: My Take, 2016 : The election is coming up fast, and I have taken a lot of flack because of my adamant stance against the Republican candidate. That's a ...

The election is coming up fast, and I have taken a lot of flack because of my adamant stance against the Republican candidate. That's a shame. My opinion is my opinion, and it is the product of hours of research, years of following these candidates, and my own personal feelings.   Now, I have been admonished by some that I should not state my opinions. Really? This is what elections and this whole idea of Democracy (capital 'D'!) is about! We are a free and open society. What we are not free to do is force our opinions on anyone else. We can write about them, talk about them, but it is not legal or 'free' to force your opinions on others. Now, we can, as I do, write about them. However, I cannot go to a friends house, without his or her permission, and post a sign on their lawn! It's just not the right thing to do, and it is not legal. I have been criticized because I objected to this, but I do not care. I respect others... I do not write or post my opinions on...

My Back Pages: Who Decides What Makes Up A 'Real American' :  The other day, my wife called attention to a post by someone she had known since she was a child. The person in question had been a friend ...

 The other day, my wife called attention to a post by someone she had known since she was a child. The person in question had been a friend of her mother's. The post went something like this: 'You Liberal garbage who make remarks about the Bush family better watch out. Don't do it around real Americans!'    First of all, with all due respect to this woman, who are you to judge who a 'Real American' is? Secondly, who are you to call any citizen who has a different political viewpoint than you 'Garbage?'    In an effort to become a better human, even at my advanced age, I have been making a concerted effort not to let anger overcome me. Anger hurts the angry person much more than it does the focus of the anger. That person, or thing, is usually either oblivious or immune to your anger. However, this post by this woman really makes my blood boil. This seems to be the attitude of many people, on both sides of the political discussion, and this hurts me to ...

de·plor·a·ble /dəˈplôrəb(ə)l/ adjective 1. deserving strong condemnation:  "the deplorable conditions in which most prisoners are held" synonyms: disgraceful ,  shameful ,  dishonorable ,  unworthy ,  inexcusable ,  unpardonable ,  unforgivable ,  reprehensible ,  despicable ,  abominable ,  contemptible ,  execrable ,  heinous ,  beyond the pale What Is deplorable to me? A person running for president bullying everyone that I also in contention for the office. Calling someone low energy. Making fun of another as he eats. Giving negative names to everyone else who is running. Making fun of a female candidate's looks.Calling one candidate 'Little Marco'... calling another 'Lyin' Ted'.   Making remarks about the looks wife of another candidate. Using every bullying tactic that he can find, while offering no substance to his own reason for running.   It's deplorable...

de·plor·a·ble /dəˈplôrəb(ə)l/ adjective 1. deserving strong condemnation:  "the deplorable conditions in which most prisoners are held" synonyms: disgraceful ,  shameful ,  dishonorable ,  unworthy ,  inexcusable ,  unpardonable ,  unforgivable ,  reprehensible ,  despicable ,  abominable ,  contemptible ,  execrable ,  heinous ,  beyond the pale What Is deplorable to me? A person running for president bullying everyone that I also in contention for the office. Calling someone low energy. Making fun of another as he eats. Giving negative names to everyone else who is running. Making fun of a female candidate's looks.Calling one candidate 'Little Marco'... calling another 'Lyin' Ted'.   Making remarks about the looks wife of another candidate. Using every bullying tactic that he can find, while offering no substance to his own reason for running.   It's deplorable...

My Back Pages: Did You Ever Have The Feeling You Were Being ........ :        If any of you are old enough to remember it, there was an old Warner Brothers cartoon that opened with Bugs Bunny looking out of his ...

       If any of you are old enough to remember it, there was an old Warner Brothers cartoon that opened with Bugs Bunny looking out of his rabbit hole and saying "Ah.. Did ya ever have the feeling you was being ...watched?"       Well, back when that old cartoon was produced, old Bugs may have been a bit paranoid. These days, he is probably right!  Cell phones broadcast our every move. Apps on those phones and tablets tell corporations what our likes and dislikes are. Our home computers  keep track of every purchase, every site visited. If we are not extremely careful, malware from some of these sites can be downloaded without our knowledge and make our computers spies in our own homes. Surveillance cameras record us everywhere we go. Facial recognition software linked to these cameras scan us. Privacy has become nonexistent. Worrying about government surveillance is pointless because we are surveilled everywhere we go. Big Brother? There i...

My Back Pages: Memories- Part 2 : Memories -Part II Prelude I finished Part I with my thoughts on my Grandfather, Angelo Zaffino, and my loving relationship with him. It e...

Memories -Part II Prelude I finished Part I with my thoughts on my Grandfather, Angelo Zaffino, and my loving relationship with him. It ended with his death and wake. Part I left me emotionally drained. I never expected that delving into my memories and writing them down would have such an effect on me, but it did. This, I think, is not a bad thing. It has enabled me to face things that had such a profound impact on my life, the good and the bad.    I will pick this up with my Grandmother, Theresa Zaffino. My Grandfather will also come into play here again, simply because they were inseparable for so many years. They had a love and understanding of each other that every couple that has ever been together, strived so hard to have. Not all are so successful, they were. It was a special relationship. They were an exceptional couple, at least in my opinion; and I admit that my opinion is one sided  because I loved them both.  The years before I came to be ...

My Back Pages: Memories - Part I : First Memories Me, Age 2 My earliest memory is of my Great Uncle Giuseppe dying. I was about three years old... maybe a little younger,...

First Memories Me, Age 2 My earliest memory is of my Great Uncle Giuseppe dying. I was about three years old... maybe a little younger, and I remember my Aunt Anne saying that Zi Peppine had died. He was my Grandfather Angelo's brother. I remember everyone being very hushed, and the crying that came from Uncle Joe's house. Many memories from this time are hazy, but I remember being treated as something special by my aunts and uncles because I was my father's first born.  My father worked for General Motors in Tarrytown, NY at the time. He worked on the assembly line. We lived in my Grandmother's house on Everett Street at the time, and I remember waking up very early in the morning as my father showered and shaved and went about his morning business. I could smell the heady aroma of the coffee percolating in the pot downstairs, and the sound coming from the kitchen as my mother and grandmother prepared breakfast. I would sit in my grandfather's lap as...