JACOB BARNETT-AUTISTIC BOY WITH HIGHER IQ THAN EINSTEIN

As a professional, I have seen so many incompetent, truly dangerous "experts" in many different disciplines, whose decisions and misdiagnosis contribute to further victimizing those who are the most vulnerable in our society.

I am not advocating that assessments by professionals be ignored but rather that people become more pro-active, involved with those who they seek help from for their children, loved, ones, or for themselves.

It is your responsibility to learn all that you can about the problems you seek help for and to not simply blindly follow the god like words of the "experts".

It behooves every individual to think for themselves in partnership with the professional, so as to satisfy your own understanding of what is happening.

Too many people are intimidated by professionals and allow themselves to be unquestioning, passive followers of whatever is told to them.

In yet another example of how an out-of-control system of "experts" can do devastating harm, this is about a teenage boy who was diagnosed with autism at a young age and has risen to stellar heights after escaping from the clutches of the special education system with the help of his concerned mother.

When Jacob Barnett was 2 years old, he was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism. Doctors told his parents that the boy would likely never talk or read and would probably be forever unable to independently manage basic daily activities like tying his shoe laces.

But they were sorely, extraordinarily mistaken.

So far nobody can define what autism really is. It’s also a one size fits all diagnosis while it’s pretty clear that one kid with autism can be completely different from another. 

Some genetic diseases (Rett syndrome for instance) lead to autism. The problem is when you are trying to find etiology of a disease that is not one disease, but a collection of different ones, it’s like trying to find a cure for fever.

The key, according to mom Kristine Barnett, was letting Jacob be himself  by helping him study the world with wide-eyed wonder instead of focusing on a list of things he couldn’t do.

Following this diagnosis of autism at age two, Jacob was subjected to the cookie cutter special education system that focused on correcting what he couldn’t do compared to normal children. 

For years, teachers attempted to convince Kristine Barnett that her son would only be able to learn the most basic of life skills.

When exposed to the special education system of therapy, Kristine noticed Jacob would withdraw deeply and refuse to speak with anyone. 

Even though she found it “terrifying to fly against the advice of the professionals,” she knew in her heart “that if Jake stayed in special education, he would slip away,” Kristine relates in her memoir, The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing Genius.

School therapy specialists claimed Jacob Barnett would never be able to read or function normally in society. 

But the boy’s mother realized when Jacob was not in therapy, he was doing “spectacular things” completely on his own.

She decided to trust her instinct and disregard the advice of the professionals. 

Instead of following a standardized special needs educational protocol, she surrounded Jacob with all the things that inspired passion for him and was astonished at the transformation that took place.

So began a journey for Jake (CLICK HERE) that would lead to such unexpected achievement that the whole premise of standardized therapy for this ‘special needs’ child would be blown to bits.

After years of frustration and little progress, Kristine made a radical decision in the eyes of the special    
education system, she took Jacob out of school and prepared him for kindergarten herself. 

She let him explore the things he wanted to explore. He studied patterns and shadows and stars. At the same time, she made sure that he enjoyed “normal” childhood pleasures – softball, picnics – along with other kids his age.

“I operate under a concept called ‘muchness’,” Kristine said “which is surrounding children with the things they love, be it music, or art, whatever they’re drawn to and love.”

Jacob also has an IQ of 170, higher than that of Einstein. 

He is history’s youngest astrophysics researcher, has spoken at a New York TED (Technology, Entertainment & Design) conference, and appeared on a variety of news interviews, including 60 Minutes and the Time magazine website.

His mother, not sure if her child was talking nonsense or genius, sent a video of his theory to the renowned Institute for Advanced Study near Princeton University.

Gifted: Aspergers syndrome and the conditions affecting child development

Autism: A condition that starts in early childhood, usually involving serious developmental disabilities with social interaction and communication.

People with this disorder can have a range of abilities, from being severely disabled to gifted. It is estimated one in every 150 child has the condition.

Aspergers: A syndrome that is similar to autism, but with the distinction that those with it typically function better, have normal intelligence and near-normal language development.

Savant: Rare condition in which persons with developmental disorders have astonishing islands of ability, brilliance or talent that stand in stark contrast to overall limitations.

According to the Indiana Star, Institute astrophysics professor Scott Tremaine himself a world renowned expert  confirmed the authenticity of Jake's theory.

In an email to the family, Tremaine wrote: 'I'm impressed by his interest in physics and the amount that he has learned so far.

'The theory that he's working on involves several of the toughest problems in astrophysics and theoretical physics.

'Anyone who solves these will be in line for a Nobel Prize.'

And it hasn't gone unnoticed by Jake, who added: 'Whenever I try talking about math with anyone in my family they just stare blankly.'

Jake was diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome, a mild form of autism, from an early age.

His parents were worried when he didn't talk until the age of two, suspecting he was educationally abnormal.

It was only as he began to grow up that they realized just how special his gift was.

He would fill up note pads of paper with drawings of complex geometrical shapes and calculations, before picking up felt tip pens and writing equations on windows.

By the age of three he was solving 5,000-piece puzzles and he even studied a state road map, reciting every highway and license plate prefix from memory.

By the age of eight he had left high school and was attending Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis advanced astrophysics classes.

By the time Jacob reached the age of 11,he was studying condensed matter physics at Indiana University-Purdue University. 

Jake had embarked on his most ambitious project yet, his own "expanded version of Einstein's theory of relativity".

Not bad for someone who was classified by school special education experts as so severely disabled. 

If Jacob had stayed within the system, their prediction may very well have come true.

     Jake Barnett  At 12 years old Giving A Lecture on TED

                       Jake Barnett Now At 17 Years of Age         

Now aged 17, his love for physics has him currently researching Loop Quantum Gravity and Quantum Foundations at Perimeter Institute for Advanced Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, as a PhD student.

Jacob has a Face Book page where he encourages others to communicate with him (CLICK HERE).

There are many hopeful story's of people such as Jacob Barnett, but there are also many, many more agonizing realities of others diagnosed with Autism whose lives   are limited by whatever it is that destroys their ability to function, whether it be clinically organic, misdiagnosis, treatment related, or a multitude of other causation's.

For them there is no magic cure, no genius who does amazing things with their brain, no way out of the deep darkness that consumes their lives.

Autism today is serially misunderstood and misdiagnosed. 

Misdiagnosis due to ignorance is so prevalent partly because we still don’t really understand autism. 

Autistic people do not seem to have problems perceiving and distinguishing certain types of action, as has been commonly believed, according to a study in the Journal of Neuroscience. 

Instead, differences seem to arise at the level of executive functions where they try to pay attention to the action and interpret it.

James Cusack, an autistic scientist from the University of Aberdeen, led the study, helping design new types of tests because he felt that the typical tests being used to assess perception differences in autistic people had too many possible unrelated variables.

"When we take account of these other factors properly, the results showed only a slight impairment and this was more of a generalized deficit which might instead be attributed to factors such as the ability to pay attention, rather than autism specifically," he stated in a press release on MedicalXpress. The new tests showed that people with autism are often interpreting some sensory inputs differently.

A co-author on the study suggested that the findings could lead to better approaches to helping people with autism. "Many people with autism are disabled by sensory symptoms," he said. "It is important to know that the brain's sensory systems are functioning well in autism. This suggests that we need to focus upon the way that the brain modulates the way that sensory input is experienced."

In the past two decades, autism has become a catch-all diagnosis for children whose behavior appears antisocial. 

A widely cited 2012 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that about one in 88 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder. 

The “spectrum” describes a wide range of conditions, from the milder Aspergers syndrome to the much more severe neurodevelopmental Rett syndrome. 

All are characterized by repetitive behaviors and some degree of impairment in social and communications skills.

While various theories exist, it seems to be genetic in some cases and may be related to synaptic dysfunction, we know little about what causes it and nothing about how to prevent it. 

We also don’t know why some children diagnosed with milder spectrum disorders seem to leave the spectrum entirely in later life, sometimes within only a few years, while others suffer forever in the darkness of their disease. 

Unfortunately, some cases of autism are serious, and the lack of scientific consensus has pushed many parents to desperate measures. 

An infamous (and now discredited) 2001 article linked autism to mercury in vaccines and prompted widespread fears about immunization. 

Old fears die hard. The Internet is awash with non-peer reviewed reports that autism is linked to all kinds of environmental causes. Con artists and unlicensed company's offer dangerous alternative treatments, none of them FDA approved. 

Some desperate parents have turned to chelation therapy, the chemical removal of heavy metals from the body, and hyperbaric oxygen chambers. These treatments recall the barbaric methods once used to treat mental illness, but they also drive home how helpless parents of many autistic children feel.

If left unaddressed, this epidemic of mistreatment and misdiagnosis will be as disastrous for our economy as for our children. 

Autism is expensive and research is grossly underfunded.

According to a study by Michael Ganz at the Harvard School of Public Health, each case of autism carries a social cost of $3.2 million over a lifetime. 

And care is not cheap, sometimes costing $50 thousand or more per year. 

We must recognize that we all know people on and off the spectrum who feel isolated and sometimes act in ways that appear awkward or even antisocial. 

Parents who have children diagnosed within the Autism spectrum need to spend as much loving time interacting with their child, opening up as many new opportunities to experience child hood fun, learning, and stimulation so they can be exposed to the world around them.

The child with the disorder affects the entire nuclear family and becomes a center of attention.

At the same time, parent(s) must perform a very difficult, delicate balancing act when it comes to family dynamics.

In many families that have a child diagnosed with any disorder, not just Autism, there is often a  natural tendency to not pay as much attention to the other "normal" siblings.

These "normal" siblings become "babysitters, cheer leaders", praising every positive thing done by the other child.

They mimic what the parent does, and in doing so, indirectly are seeking the desperate self attention, love they need for themselves.

It is critical that the parent (s) also provide the "normal sibling(s)" with the time for sole attention, experiences that enable them to feel love and secure in the dynamics of the family.

Too often these siblings grow up feeling unloved, insecure, overly anxious, with poor self self esteem. 

Sometimes they even learn to act out, creating problems, in order to get the attention of family as a way to feel loved.

So as difficult as it is for parents to cope with the many stresses of life, it is essential to focus on all your children, including them as individuals within the family.

There are many things parents can do to help children with autism overcome their challenges. 

But it's also important to make sure you get the support you need. 

When you're looking after a child with autism, taking care of yourself is not an act of selfishness, it's a necessity. 

Being emotionally strong allows you to be the best parent you can be to your child in need. 

Regardless of everything said: patience, respect, and a little empathy, not pity, go a long way in helping everyone involved.

REP. CRESENT HARDY (R-NV) -SAYS "DISABLED PEOPLE DRAIN ON SOCIETY"-MAGNA SCUM LAUDE

Yet again, just when I think the very worst that can be spoken by stupid, moron, smug politicians has been attained, another dipshit comes forward with a statement that tops the previous imbeciles.

Rep. Cresent Hardy (R-NV) recently told a crowd at a Libertarian Party event that he never wants his children to be a “drain on society” like disabled people. (Click Here) 

In audio published this week by the Nevada State Democratic Party, Hardy can be heard speaking to attendees at the Libertarian Political Expo in Las Vegas.

“I have three children,” Hardy explains. “One of them is summa cum laude and two were magna cum laude. The other one, he didn’t need an education. He works for Raytheon, smarter than all the rest. He works hard, he builds things that are genius. Some people have that ability.”

“But they all work hard. They are raising their own families,” he continued. “They will not be a drain on society, the best they can. Hopefully they will never have some disability that causes them to have to utilize that.”

Any way what he said will now be twisted and turned by him and his handlers to mean that he meant some thing else, or was misunderstood, is just a lie as this perverted clueless, cruel, dumb, piece of shit, poor excuse for a human being, meant exactly what he said with the words that came out of his pompous mouth.

Anyone can become disabled at any time. 

You can accidentally fall down hitting your head, or be in a traffic accident with a severe blow to the head, neck or back. 

Or have a debilitating progressive disease like Parkinson's. 

Or suffer from a stroke or a deep vein thrombosis, devastating events that can hit at any age.

Or fate will suddenly, unexpectedly, simply knock on your door uninvited, striking you or your loved ones with a life ending event.

But it's good to know that none of his children will be relying on government assistance if disaster strikes, that they won't apply for early Social Security because of disability, or help with the hospital and nursing home bills, or years of physical therapy.

The Nazi's called the disabled "the useless eaters" in order to justify their euthanasia. The methods used for mass extermination in the Nazi death camps originated and were perfected in earlier use against people with physical, emotional, and intellectual disabilities. 

Hardy is expressing the same Nazi sentiments, "the disabled are useless, a drain on society, worth less, entitled to nothing, better off dead because who would want to live that way?"

Plus he can't even count: "I have three children,” Hardy explains. “One of them is summa cum laude and two were magna cum laude. The other one, he didn’t need an education." So he has 3 children and 3 of them got an education and the 4th one did not.

Hey Hardy, does it make you feel like a real conservative to go around beating up on disabled people.

People like Hardy DESERVE to lose every penny they have, to become victims of the most painful tragedies so that they are punished for their arrogant, self entitlement mind set that they are somehow immune from the frailties, karma of real life, if for no reason to humble them, and understand the reality that most people face. 

What an asshole!

Yes, becoming disabled by a painful disease or accident is planned, just so they can get free stuff from the government.

The real drain on society are multi billion dollar corporations that pay no taxes (or even have a negative tax bill). 

A drain on society are 1%ers that offshore their income to avoid taxes. 

A drain on society are corporations that profit of of public resources at no cost. 

A drain on society is Hardy, who as a Congressman, in a do nothing Congress, qualifies him as someone receiving public funds who doesn't deserve them.

It amazes me how politicians like this who will weep and wail and legislate that all life is precious and valuable, will suddenly see it as a drain on society as soon as it suits them to open their mouths about people who are "different", those who are vulnerable and not "like him"

This man needs a brain transplant. His cum laude children obviously deprived him of his critical thinking skills. 

Hardy should resign immediately, and seek psychiatric care for himself to treat the terminally stupid. 

Let him have it if you are reading this, and tell him what you feel at:

https://www.facebook.com/RepCresentHardy

https://twitter.com/RepHardy

https://hardy.house.gov/

Regarding being a productive member of society: It is what you do with what you know, how you are of service to others, to your community, and to your world, that ultimately determines your intelligence, more importantly, your "worth" to a society.

But to a worthless parasite such as Hardy, he is too stupid to understand any of this regular human feelings stuff.

Hardy, you are a schmuck!

SAMUEL WOLKOFF WAS MY FATHER

Samuel Wolkoff- June 6th, 1958, forever etched in my soul. My father was gruesomely murdered on this day many years ago, at the age of 42. 

I was 10 years old. He lost his life that day, I lost my childhood, my inner peace, and my soul. 

Samuel Wolkoff was MY FATHER. Tragically, I hardly remember anything about him, and almost nothing about our relationship as father and son.

Today's Blog is in memory of Samuel Wolkoff, My Dad, tortured and murdered (CLICK HERE TO READ MORE).

The march of the dead continues, May/June are the saddest months for me, I dread this time of the year, horrifically gruesome memories of human, innocent lives of my family wasted. 

The rest of the year, the ever present demons make sure I remember those whose memories others have tried to erase, these are my family, they were human beings who will never be forgotten by me, they lived and never deserved to die in such horribly suffering ways. 

To me it's very personal when June 6th arrives every year, a very painful day. It has now been 57 agonizing years since my father Samuel Wolkoff was brutally tortured and murdered.

I am often intrigued as to why over 55,500 people as of this date have visited my Blog. 

I suppose they come for many different reasons and I can see they are from all over the world.

There are many good people who come here, victims, families of victims, people seeking justice, those who are fighting against injustice, human beings who care. 

But there are also extremely evil people who visit here. 

I see search terms on my blog from people who arrive looking for information about my father, a lot of other interesting search words that only "you" would know. 

Some of you are the cowardly, but powerfully dangerous scum bags who murdered my father, some are close murderous associates of my father, as well as those of you in the arrogant, incompetent, corrupt law enforcement systems, whose agencies knowingly covered their asses, and in doing so, betrayed your sworn oaths to defend justice, by participating in covering up the truth, obstructing justice in this capital offense, which has no statute of limitations.

There are visitors here who are criminals, murderers, organized organized crime family leaders, law enforcement, the curious, all are responsible by their actions or inaction's to change the injustices that are specifically detailed in many of my different Blog posts about all the victims I write about.


I do know that MY FATHER was a courageous HERO. 

My father believed in kindness, honesty, family, hard work, ethics, and his rights as a human being to reap the fruits of his labor for himself and our family.

He was a man who did not run away from the corrupt animals who wanted a "cut of his business" for themselves. 

He believed in himself and the law enforcement, legal, supposedly ethical "systems" to protect him from those that wanted the business that he had built from nothing, with his blood and sweat.

He believed in a code of personal ethics, morality, integrity that dictated honor, family, respect, fairness, loyalty, faith in humanity, and that no one is entitled to steal from another human being their right to live.

On June 6th, 1958 the world was evil, corrupt, his life was cheap, and scum bags took what they wanted, from who ever they wanted. That was the day they took my father's life, his business, and all of our souls.

Today, June 6th, 2015, the world is infinitely more evil, more corrupt, life is even cheaper, scum bags thrive as they take even more of what they want, from whomever they choose.

Many of the murderers of my father, and their children are still alive. They have all done extremely well financially and live with a high standard of living for themselves, their families have all thrived in spite of their evil deeds. 

Yes, my father was a hero, he is a hero who sacrificed his life for his beliefs. Seems old fashioned, naive, for someone to believe so strongly in doing the right thing. 

Yet somehow, he who had nothing, created a thriving business, and maintained his righteousness of believing in goodness, his business associates, his relatives, the legal/law enforcement system, and that being a hard working, good person is to be rewarded.

In the end, his naive belief in the humanity of others proved that he was DEAD wrong and he paid for it with his life. 


Dead heroes, no matter how courageous they are, never get remembered by society for their acts of courage. They are quickly forgotten, except by those who loved them.


Was it worth it for MY FATHER, Samuel Wolkoff, to stand his ground and give up his life in such a terrifying, grotesque manner at the hands of cowardly pussy punks? 

Was it worth the unimaginable pain that he felt as he was tortured slowly for 5 hours on the night of June 6, 1959? 

What must he have been thinking during those horrific hours of going in and out of consciousness as they repeatedly tightened and loosened a rope around his neck?

Samuel Wolkoff's cause of death, 5 long hours of tortured Murder By Strangulation. 

Try to hold your breath for as long as you can, then wait 40 more seconds, exhale, that will give you a tiny sense of the horrific way my father felt for 5  consecutive hours, a rope tied as a noose, was continuously alternately tightened, then loosened around his neck, while his hands were tied behind his back. 

Death, when it finally came, must have been a merciful release for my father.

Was it worth it to believe that your goodness would triumph above evil, that god would watch over you, that law enforcement would protect you, that your wife, and children would not suffer beyond imagination for the rest of our lives?

The world did not care about his life and did nothing.

Justice not served, justice not given, nothing complicated, nothing new, an innocent, good person, a human life stolen without any remorse, it happens all the time. 

My father's fatal errors that cost him his life? He  believed in trust, in the sense of obligation to very close members of his family, by giving them a chance to change their ways.

The good deeds he did, paid back by these very same, who had him murdered. Horrifically ugly, but brutally true, and they all got away with it, no guilt, no conscience, didn't bother any of them, never mattered to them.

Today we remember my courageous father. He is not resting in peace, and he never will rest in peace, that is certain. 

How can a loved one who dies suffering, rest in peace, ever? The answer is they cannot rest in peace because of the way they died.

Seems like a simple thing to believe and its even reduced to a short acronym, R.I.P., easy to write. I can't write it, not possible, not after all the never ending suffering of my father, and our family.


Was it worth it, my hero, my dear beloved father? 

Was it worth it?
 

                  

REST IN PEACE IRIS

It always begins on this date every year.

My beloved sister Iris died on May 28th, 2004, and this starts the beginning of the period each year that represents incalculable suffering, inexplicable unfairness, tragedy that has wrought its massive destruction of so many good, loved members of my family, who deserved so very much better than they received in life and death.  

Once again, another year has passed and I dread the intensified agony of overwhelming grief that envelops me for these lost souls of my family during these upcoming months.

It always begins on this calendar date, May 28th as a not really necessary reminder, each year at this time.

I need not be told that it is here, since the pain is an always present bleeding part of me, all the time, all year round, but becomes insidiously unbearable as of this date, and in the next few months, every year, imploding beyond that which I can even feel as a human being. 

I painfully miss & mourn those of my immediate family who have died, enveloping my entire being, more so than at any other time, as each year passes.

Increasingly difficult, filled with the aching of a lifetime beaten down into ever present, toxic, non stop personal demons, nightmares, flash backs, with memories vividly stamped inside my brain, as if it were just yesterday that we were all together as a family, and of course, little brother and big sister.

I planted those purple Iris flowers pictured above in the garden out front of my house when my sister Iris died.

Each year I take new pictures as they spring to life and insert them on this blog in memory of my sister. 

I liked the idea that they are perennials, returning every year, flowering in all their beauty, now looking so alive on another anniversary today of the day she died, after a courageous, painful battle to live. 

We do that a lot in my family, fighting to live life to the fullest, and when our time comes, refusing to let go until our last precious breath. They call our family fighters, survivors, and that is what we do in both living our happiness as a gift never to be taken for granted, and the darkness which is part of remembering.

Iris was a unique and compassionate person who quietly touched everyone she met with her kindness and strength. 

Iris is missed by all of us who loved her. We will never forget her beautiful smile.

My sister Iris was full of life, insightful, quiet, brave,
loyal, sagely wise, and then she was gone forever, horribly, excruciatingly painfully, and irrevocably. 

She deserved so much better in her short time on this earth but it was not to be.

Iris, my sister, a gift to me in life, was more beautiful in a million ways than these magnificent flowers. 

I will miss you forever my dear sister Iris, but most of all I will always miss your caring love. 

I love you. 

Love, Your little brother- Jerry.

MODERN TIMES- HUMAN ATTENTION SPAN NOW LESS THAN THAT OF A GOLDFISH

                                                         MODERN TIMES

Modern times is a silent movie from 1936 that was written and produced by Charlie Chaplin.

Chaplin brilliantly and humorously plays the assembly line employee who is selected to use a new technology device which the Boss thankfully decides that "No, it is not practical"? (see video above).

As I described in my previous blog post, technology often complicates our life, rather than making us more efficient, it sometimes simply makes us stupid.

Did you know that the average humans attention span is... oh look, a bird!
According to scientists, the age of smart phones has left humans with such a short attention span even a goldfish can hold a thought for longer.
Researchers studied 2000 participants in Canada.
The results showed the average human attention span has fallen from 12 seconds in 2000, or around the time the mobile  smart phone revolution began, to eight seconds.
Goldfish, meanwhile, are believed to have an attention span of nine seconds. 
• Is your attention span actually shorter than a goldfish?

I assume they meant actual goldfish, not the little cheese crackers. 

The research was about attention spans in general, it was designed to test how long humans pay attention to the ads on web pages. And if we're talking about ads, 8.25 seconds strikes me as pretty long.

Which is probably because the test subjects, as it turns out, were all Canadians. Who are genetically patient. 

If they'd tested Americans, you'd figure, what, 2 seconds? On the West Coast. On the East coast, probably one?

Anyway, they concluded that for people to pay attention to ads, the ads have to have movement. Because our peripheral vision is hard wired to respond to movement as a way to alert us to predators.

So now more and more ads are like action films, and here's the irony: these elaborate ads need massive amounts of data, so while you're waiting for this irresistible attention grabbing action packed ad to load, you're watching a download bar on your computer.

What the researchers should have measured is not how long are you willing to look at an ad, but how long you're willing to look at a download bar. I'm betting it's way less than eight seconds, even for a Canadian.

And now congratulate yourself for concentrating long enough to make it through this article.

                                         

IT TOOK ME BACK TO THE FUTURE-WHO'S ON FIRST

                       

                                  


A victim of circumstance is an individual who suffers ill consequences because of factors that were out of their control. 

Someone can be said to be such a victim if, during the course of everyday life, we encounter a situation without seeking it out that causes us harm. 

The phrase is often used to describe someone who shares no blame for the situation and that their current plight was caused by the laws of nature or the actions, intentional or unintentional, of other people or "it".

Technology is the "it" that can often be an evil curse which holds us all as prisoners, making us victims over and over.

Inaccurate medical test results, computers that don't work, cell phones that disconnect us in the middle of critically important calls, batteries that are more dead than alive, the list is endless of the technology that is out of control, yet at the same time, ironically, very much in control of our lives.

It's not because computers are smart but actually computer technology can at times be extremely stupid, intransigent, wrong and definitely lazy.

What once could be corrected in 2 seconds by a simple eraser can take hours, weeks, months, years, or never, to get corrected.

So today I received a credit card in the postal mail that needed to be validated over the telephone before being used.

I called the credit card telephone number for validation.

After 10 minutes of negotiating the endless automated robot voice prompts, "it" asked for the last 4 digits of my credit card.

I entered the last 4 digits as asked.

Next "it" asked for the last 4 digits of my social security number.

I entered the last 4 digits as asked.

Next "it" asked for my zip code.

I entered my zip code as asked.

Finally it asked for my birth date explaining to me to use the digits for the month, not the name.

I entered my birth date as asked.

"It" said that was not my correct birth date and to re-enter my birth date again.

I entered my birth date several more times and each time "it" said that was not my correct birth date.

"It" said, please wait for a customer service representative to help me.

After 5 minutes of waiting a human being came on the phone and:

The human being asked me for the last 4 digits of my credit card.

I gave her the last 4 digits as asked.

Next she asked for the last 4 digits of my social security number.

I gave her the last 4 digits as asked.

Next she asked for my zip code.

I gave her my zip code as asked.

Finally she asked me for my birth date

I gave her my birth date.

She told me the birth date that I gave her was incorrect according to "it".

I laughingly told her this has always been my birth date.

She did not laugh and asked me for my birth date again.

I gave her my birth date, this time assuring her that I knew my correct birth date and it has never changed, how could it be changed I said.

She asked me if I was "using my father's credit card".

I said no, I am 60+ years old and why would I be using my father's credit card?

She said in a matter of fact tone, "it" says you were born in 1906.

After using my fingers and toes to do the required math, I said, well I am not 109 years old.

She said but "it" says you were born in 1906.

I said, "it" must be incorrect.

She said, let me see if I can get "it" to allow me to enter to change it.

She said what is your ID number?

I said what ID number.

She said the Banks ID number "it' has assigned me.

I said I don't know my special ID number because the Bank never informed me that I had a special ID number.

She then asked me if I had my special telephone Pin number assigned by "it".

I said I don't know my special telephone PIN number because the Bank never informed me that I had such a PIN number.

I said would you like my regular PIN number.

She said, "it" doesn't allow entry using the regular PIN number.

I said, this is crazy, I have been your customer for over 30 years and you can't simply activate my credit card?

She said, "it" won't allow an activation without the information "it" has, corresponding to what I give.

I said, since I am 106 years old according to "it", can't you make an exception for me before I drop dead from this aggravation.

She said, I'll try to see if anything else will work.

She said, what is your address.

I gave her my address that I have lived at for over 40 years.

She said, "it" has a different address for me and won't let her enter.

I said, how about telephone numbers, will "it" take phone numbers?

She said that she didn't know if it would, but what is my phone number.

I said do you want my cell phone or land line number.

She said, let's start with your land line number.

I gave her my land line number.

She said, "it" doesn't let me enter with that phone number.

I said, here is my old land line number that I disconnected 10 years ago.

She said, "we did it", Mr. Wolkoff, "it let" me enter using that old phone number.

I asked her to correct all the information now that she had entered "it".

Five more minutes and the corrections were hopefully made.

I asked her if we were done now as I was exhausted being that I had just come back from the future.

She said, Is there anything else I can help you with today (Click Here).

I said that she had done enough helping for the day.

She said, hold on and don't forget to do the customer service survey next.

The customer service survey robot voice came on and I was going to tell "it" to shove itself up into a place where the sun doesn't shine. 

"It" asked me for my date of birth to begin the survey.

I gave "it" my date of birth.

"It" said that was not my correct birth date and to re-enter my date again.

Made me feel like the old but new version of Abbot and Costello doing their Who's On First comedy routine.

I hung up on "it".

A STUPID QUESTION OR A STUPID JERK? WHEN IS IT TIME, MR. BOEHNER

THIS IS A STUPID JERK

In my previous blog post about the recent tragic AMTRAK railroad crash near Philadelphia last week that killed 8 innocent victims (CLICK HERE) I wrote about a current technology known as Positive Train Control System, that would have prevented this horrible train crash. 

This system also known as PTC automatically slows down a train that's moving too fast by sensing the train speed and if necessary, it will override the Engineers ability to speed above the designated limit on any part of the railroad track.

This Positive Train Control System has been installed on parts of the AMTRAK railroad but oddly, it has not yet been installed in this particular corridor which is the busiest in the United States.

Amtrak officials promised to have PTC in place on the entire Northeast corridor by the end of the year, but it's a complex and expensive problem, and Congress hasn't given Amtrak any extra money to do it. 

In fact, the House Appropriations Committee voted this week to cut Amtrak's $1.4 billion budget. Republican Congressman John Mica of Florida told CNN today that the railroad gets too much public money as it is.

These eight dead victims and countless others, including their families, who are killed, maimed, injured every day throughout the United States due to our crumbling infrastructure, are ignored by the very politicians who are supposed to be serving the public by using the taxpayer money of we the people, to keep us safe.

Instead they are literally telling us "to drop dead".

We the people of the United States are never the priority when it comes to the actions of politicians.

It never seems to be the right time for Congress to have money available when it comes to fixing our country, to fund basic systems that we pay our taxes to supposedly support our communities.

If you're a middle class taxpayer, it means you have a job. And if you have a job, you're a commuter. And if you're a commuter you know the sorry state of the roads and transit systems in much of this country.

Taxpayers are the engine of the economy, and yet they have to run a gauntlet of traffic jams equipment, automobile, airplane, rail, bus, etc. breakdowns and delays, just to get to work every day.

And that is, in part, because Congress has been unable to pass a long-term transportation budget since 2005.

It never seems to be the right time. They just can't find the money.

The results are very different when it comes to raising the politicians salaries, dispensing foreign aid to countries that hate us, corruption, meaningless projects, worthless studies, government waste, fighting wars that we have no reason to be involved in, then billions of dollars needed, magically always appear.

Congress has spoken again and says there is so little money that a House committee went ahead with a vote to cut Amtrak's budget the day after the AMTRAK Pennsylvania crash.

And when a reporter brought it up the other day (See Video Above) at House Speaker John Boehner's regular Thursday news conference, he would hear none of it.

"Are you really gonna ask that? That is a stupid question," Boehner said. "Listen, they started this yesterday, "It's all about funding, it's all about funding. Well, obviously it's not about funding; the train was going twice the speed limit."

He meant that you don't make policy because of one accident that was caused by an engineer who messed up. 

Missing the entire point, Boehner has neglected to understand the accountability that he has to ensure the safety of our Citizens and to prioritize the necessary funding to accomplish these objectives.

So he belittles the question, insults the value of American human lives, and deflects any real answer by blaming the question as being stupid.

Like so many politicians, their stupidity, and total lack of concern about us, ends up in a perverted blame game that never involves the depravity of their corruption, greed, empty brains as being the cause of our problems as a Country.

But if now isn't the time to spend money on our safety, just when will that time be?

Everybody who commutes and sees that commute getting slower and slower has to be asking themselves, since it's commuters like me who pay for this operation that we call the United States of America, why should I have to fight my way to work every day?

Or is that also a stupid question?