I WISH YOU A REALLY HAPPY FESTIVUS! IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN.

It's that time of the year again. 
  
I just don't get it about this 2 month period every year where so many seem to spread good cheer, show compassion, recognize those who are less fortunate among us, and then immediately forget about these suffering human beings for the other 10 months of the year.

Total strangers greet you with "Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas". Even the usually rude droids that we all come across in our daily lives of visiting the Doctor, Cashiers at stores, wherever, whatever, flash their fake smiles, mouth empty words devoid of real feelings.

This time of the year has always bugged me. In particular it's because why is there a societal designated tiny period where everyone is supposed to act nice to each other, help those who are less fortunate than us, and spread "cheer" to each other. 

Saying Happy Holidays for the next 2 months, buying yourself "more stuff" that you really don't need, feeding the poor for the holidays, it just doesn't cut it anymore.

What happened to the rest of the year when it's not apparently required to act in this humane manner. If people really cared, this would be the normal behavior all year round.

It is with this in mind, that I want to wish EVERYONE, from the bottom of my heart a Happy Festivus for the Rest of us.

                                                                Happy Festivus

                                              
                               
                                          Oh, think twice, it's just another day  in Paradise

                       
He walks on, doesn't look back
He pretends he can't hear her
He starts to whistle as he crosses the street, She's embarrassed to be there,

Oh, think twice, it's just another day 
For you and me in paradise
Oh, think twice, it's just another day
For you and me in paradise
Just think about it,

She calls out to the man on the street
He can see she's been cryin'
She's got blisters on the soles of her feet, She can't walk but she's tryin',

Oh, just think twice, it's just another day
For you and me in paradise
Oh, yes think twice, it's just another day
For you and me in paradise
Just think about it, just think about it.

Oh Lord, is there nothing more anybody can do? Oh Lord, there must be something you can say,

You can tell by the lines on her face
You can see that she's been there
Probably been moved on from every place, Cause she didn't fit in there,

Oh, yes think twice, it's just another day
For you and me in paradise
Just think about it, just think about it

It's just another day, For you and me in paradise
 
It's just another day, For you and me
It's another day, For you and me
It's another day, For you and me in paradise".


Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, in case I forget to say so.

ZACH SOBIECH WANTED TO BE ABLE TO SAY A PROPER GOODBYE

Some times things happen that provide us with a tiny hope that humanity still exists in our cruel, mostly uncaring world in which everyone seems to only be interested in their own selfish needs.

As a parent who has experienced the horrific loss of a child, I can often identify with others who are also experiencing the agony of the inexplicable endless suffering that we will feel forever.

Each of us tries to instill in ourselves and others, a legacy to remember our children who have died, so that their much too short time on this earth is cherished for eternity.

It is our hope that others will never forget that our children lived and that their lives always will be remembered, never to be erased.

One such story is about a young man, Zach Sobiech who died on May 20, 2013 at the age of 18. 

Zach lost his battle to a rare form of cancer but his legacy has continued to live on.   

His mother, Laura Sobiech, said her son Zach had instructed his family and closest friends on how he wanted to live his last moments on earth, which involved remaining conscious until it was his time to go. An uncommonly brave choice as Zach suffered in his last few bittersweet moments.

Laura said Zach, who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at 14 years old, was conscious until just moments before he died on May 20, that’s what he wanted and achieved, to be able to say a proper goodbye. Laura said it was the way he “wanted to go.”  

With only months to live, Zach turned to music to say goodbye. Zach had written a song called "Clouds" about coming to terms with his imminent death. His YouTube hit, "Clouds," went viral last December and, at one point, reached No. 1 on iTunes.

On Thursday night, December 5, 2013, a choir of 5,000 singers made up of a few friends, family, but mostly strangers came together to sing a triumphant version of "Clouds" at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn.


The event, held one year after "Clouds" hit YouTube, was organized by local radio station, KS95.

In the middle of the crowd were Sobiech's parents, Laura and Rob Sobiech, and his girlfriend, Amy Adamle.  "Everybody came together, and it was for Zach, and it was for everyone in the room," Rob Sobiech told the Pioneer Press. "And it was for other kids who have cancer." 

Then the crowd sang his song with their amazing voices and faces touching my soul. I felt their emotions and "goose bumps" when I watched the videos.

Please watch the videos below, for yourself, so that you have the opportunity to feel even more of what is being said here in my words.

It should affect you in much the same manner because this is about life, death, unfairness, hope, and the goodwill of human beings of all religions, races, politics, and differences who came to share together, that they ALL wanted to express their compassion, caring, love for another human being.

Watch the incredible, haunting performance of "Clouds" in the video below by the crowd at the Mall of America.

Zach's amazing story also caught the attention of Rainn Wilson's YouTube channel, SoulPancake, and they made a short documentary about the teen's journey, "My Last Days: Meet Zach Sobiech."Watch the video below to learn more about Zach's incredible life.

Watch Zach's original performance of "Clouds" in the two videos below.

                        

                                              THE LYRICS

It is at rare times like this that the human spirit shows it still has some goodness in it. 

 

REST IN PEACE ZACH Sobiech. 

May 3, 1995 – May 20, 2013

ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE PISSED OFF AT THE RIGHT PEOPLE

Fact checked and accurate.

So tell me again the big lies of how we the people cannot afford to be helped in our struggles for survival by programs, benefits, services that will rebuild our rotted infrastructure, and save the regular folks of America who are being brainwashed that there is no money to help us.

Adjust the above dollar amounts up or down proportionately of what you pay based on the amount of your annual salary above or below $50,000.

The truth is right there above in those simple mathematical figures.

Open your eyes and stop being dumb sheep.

HEALTH CARE ALOT OF SPLAININ TO DO.

This is not about the Affordable Health Care Act (AKA Obamacare) or to engage in any political debate. This is about facts, you might still remember what that is about, telling the truth.

Many like to say that the United States has the best health care system in the world.  The problem is we don’t.  Not even close.  In fact, the only way you can get the best health care in the world, is if you are willing and able to pay for it.

The U.S. has to pay twice the amount per capita as the next most costly system in the world (Norway’s), and we still do not cover millions of our citizens. A Harvard Medical School study states that at least 45,000 Americans die each year from treatable diseases because they cannot afford to get treatment.


That equals 5 Americans that die every hour, of every day, of every year because of a preventable illness that was not taken care of due to lack of access and means.

Our Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  How can somebody have life and happiness, without their health? 

The US spends significantly more per person on health care than others, but has lower life expectancy rates than its peers. That's the message from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Health at a Glance 2013 report (CLICK HERE), which highlights the state of health in its 34 member countries. The report runs hundreds of pages long, detailing the most recent data in key areas of health and countries' health systems. One section looks into life expectancy gains over the past few decades, and, for many Americans, it makes for a worrying read.

What's embarrassing is that even though we live in a country where over 40 million people are uninsured, we pay more for health care than any other nation, and yet pathetically rank 26th in life expectancy, behind Slovenia

As supporters and opponents of the Affordable Care Act debate the best way to overhaul a clearly broken health care system, it's perhaps helpful to put American medicine in a global perspective.

The U.S. may spend the most on health care but this is not translating in high life expectancy. The U.S. also lags in comparison to its peers in providing universal health care. (Credit: OECD Health Statistics 2013)

To paraphrase Ricky Ricardo, the American health care system has a lot of 'splainin' to do.So what can the U.S. learn from the many countries that get more bang for their health care buck? Unsurprisingly, there is no one formula for success when it comes to efficient medical care.

The systems that rank highly are as diverse as the nations to which they belong. The unifying factor seems to be tight government control over a universal system, which may take many shapes and forms, a fact evident in the top-three most efficient health care systems in the world: Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan.

Our biggest problem is that aspects of our culture are so backward. We’ll gladly spend all of the money, ever on national defense, to the point where the Pentagon can waste billions but still get far more funding than any other area of the government.

Although life expectancy in the United States has been growing in the last several decades, it has done so more slowly than other countries due to gaps in health insurance, poor living conditions, and poor health behaviors, according to a report released Wednesday from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The OECD'S Report (Click Here) shows that life expectancy in the United States increased by about eight years since 1970, to 78.7 years in 2011. But life expectancy grew more rapidly in other OECD countries, which saw averages of 10-year gains since 1970. Now, the United States is more than a year below the OECD average life expectancy of 80.1 years.

Remember, in our political arena, if you support military funding, you’re a patriot. If you want more of that money to go toward health care, you’re a dirty socialist.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s money toward the same thing, protecting your population. For some reason, protecting them from external threats is important, but protecting their health is not.

A more detailed look shows that the US falls behind the rest of the world in every category:

1. Americans pay three times more for health care:

United States = $4,178
Switzerland = $2,794
Germany =$2,424
Canada =$2,312
Norway = $2,215
Denmark=$2,133
Austria = $2,043
France =$2,077
Japan = $1,822
Italy =$1,783
Sweden =$1,746
Finland= $1,502

2. But Americans get worse care. The US is

- 45th in Infant Mortality

- 14th in Heart Attack Survival, is behind Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Canada, Denmark and Germany,

- 15th in mortality from preventable diseases behind, France, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Australia, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, Greece, Germany, Austria, New Zealand, and Denmark.

- Worst of G6 countries for supplying Urgent care,

- Worst in medical errors.

- Behind France in Lung, Colon and Breast cancer survival. And the French pay half as much for their care.

- 5th in timely care

3. Insurance Costs Go To Overhead. Every year, Health insurance Companies are spending less and less on claims and more overhead. The amount insurance companies spend on medical claims has decreased by 28%. While profits for companies like United Health Care rose by 11%.

Percentage of premiums spent on claims:

1993: 95%
2006: 80%
2008: 67%

Some states were even worse:

North Dakota: 55%
WY, MA:       60%
KY,ME,MN,SD:  65%

Of Course our most efficient medical system in the United States is the Government operated Medicare Health Care Program of which 97.9% of premiums were spent covering claims and a tiny 2.1% for overhead in operating Medicare.

When confused people scream out "I don't want government-run health care. I don't want socialized medicine. And don't touch my Medicare", it is clear that they have no clue what they are talking about.

It's not about senior citizens. It's about anyone who doesn't think about what they're being told and can be easily manipulated. That includes many people younger than myself.

It's about the fear tactics that worked so well for the past eight years because so many people tend to believe what they're told rather than thinking it out for themselves.
 

The point is that our private system of health care in the United States sucks. Change it or live with it, but understand that the current system rips us all off.

POLITICIANS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH PEOPLE

The vast majority of us are ruled by a powerful few, and we know about virtually NONE of it.

We stopped being a democracy a long time ago and anyone who believes otherwise is beyond naive.

America is an oligarchy ( a government in which a small group exercises control over a country especially for corrupt and selfish purposes). 

  

Big government and big corporations alone would be bad enough, but when they work in tandem with each other, looking out for each other’s interests, that’s where it gets super scary.

The modern, seamlessly sophisticated  "revolving door" syndrome is one of the most successful, overtly corrupt incestuous systems that exists under most Federal, State, County, and Local forms of Government, among all political parties in the United States.

Although the influence powerhouses that line Washington's K Street are just a few miles from the U.S. Capitol building, the most direct path between the two doesn't necessarily involve public transportation. Instead, it's through a door,this revolving door that shuffles former federal employees into jobs as lobbyists, consultants and strategists, just as the door pulls former hired guns into government careers. 

While officials in the executive branch, Congress and senior congressional staffers spin in and out of the private and public sectors, so too does privilege, power, access and, of course, money.

Revolving Door: Former Members

Dick Armey,Tom Daschle,Trent Lott, Jon Kyl, Howard Berman. etc. Once, these politicos ranked among Congress' most powerful members. Today, they share another distinction: They're lobbyists (or "senior advisors" performing very similar work). And they're hardly alone. 

Dozens of former members of Congress now receive handsome compensation from corporations and special interests as they influence the very federal government in which they used to serve. See where members of the 112th Congress (CLICK HERE) and the 111th Congress (CLICK HERE) have gone.

In fact according to Bloomberg News-CLICK HERE-Since the November elections, at least 22 members of the last Congress took jobs with lobbying firms, running trade associations or handling government relations for organizations. That is an increase of 14 percent over 2012 in the number of former lawmakers now in the lobbying business, according to the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics,which tracks ex-lawmakers’ employment. Since 1998, a total of 338 former members of Congress have worked as lobbyists or joined such firms for at least some of their time since leaving office.

The data above and below shows in painstaking detail just how corrupted our political system in the United States has become.

These are perfect visual representations of how what should be our government has become a government that serves corporate interests to the detriment of the American people.

Special Interest Groups

Sector Totals, 2013-2014

Rank	Sector	Amount	Dems	Repubs	To DEMS To REPUBS
1	Finance/Insur/RealEst	$86,807,627	34.5%	57.4%
2	Other	$53,170,301	49.8%	39.8%
3	Ideology/Single-Issue	$46,344,049	38.1%	40.8%
4	Misc Business	$45,601,415	37.2%	55.9%
5	Health	$33,501,701	41.0%	55.4%
6	Lawyers & Lobbyists	$32,538,353	63.5%	33.6%
7	Labor	$24,911,797	57.3%	8.3%
8	Communic/Electronics	$24,250,960	54.4%	38.3%
9	Energy/Nat Resource	$21,305,062	22.1%	75.4%
10	Agribusiness	$15,495,565	26.5%	70.3%
11	Construction	$14,577,176	24.8%	64.7%
12	Transportation	$14,047,545	27.3%	70.8%
13	Defense	$8,548,697	40.0%	59.8%

The above data was obtained from the Center For Responsive Politics (CLICK HERE).

When I look at the the above financial connections of Corporate America it makes me wonder how anyone thought that people actually had the brazenness to claim that those pointing out the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington are conspiracy theorists.

Take the White House’s move to block the release of a Monsanto-linked lobbyist’s e-mail, for instance. This is hardly shocking when one considers the numerous connections the global corporation enjoys on Capitol Hill shown below.

Even when the products they are hawking are linked to birth defects and necrosis, these individuals seem to have no problem with actively circumventing everything democracy is supposed to be in order to pursue their corporate interests.

Just like the thoroughly reprehensible activities of the war profiteers who knowingly profit off of death, destruction and suffering, those who lobby for corporations like Monsanto are actively contributing to the problems of the many for the benefit of the few.

It’s truly disturbing to see all of this laid out in such an easily comprehensible manner, especially when one observes the high level positions many of these individuals either once held or currently hold.

Of course, this is only a small portion of the individuals involved in the widespread corporatist corruption that has infected so much of the United States.

There are countless connections to be explored and exposed, especially those which are thrown right in our faces, as is the case with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Corporatism, which can also be called crony capitalism is one of the most dangerous forces at work in the United States and the world.

It works to turn governments against the people they are supposed to be working for while not only reducing the standard of living for those who aren’t manipulating the system but also destroying the environment for future generations.

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address has gone down in history as one of the most quoted speeches in American history.

Lincoln's lines at the conclusion, that "government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth" has been extensively quoted and cited as the essence of the American system of government.

In brutal reality what we have here in the United States is:
Government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations.

SHANE KOYCZAN- POETRY IN EMOTION!

I don't generally read or listen to poetry. But then I discovered SHANE KOYCZAN, a Canadian born Spoken Word Poet.

It's more like poetry in emotion.

Shane's words hurt my head but they melt my eyes in a way I can't define, but if there was ever a precious gift it would be a poem crafted with his thoughts and shown with his voice. 

Never having seen before the term "spoken word poet", I decided to find out more about what it actually means.   

Spoken Word is poetry intended for onstage performance, rather than exclusively designed for the page. While often associated with hip-hop culture, it also has strong ties to storytelling, modern poetry, post-modern performance, and monologue theater, as well as jazz, blues, and folk music.

Due to its immediacy and direct rapport with its audience, this type of poetry often contains references to current events and issues relevant to a contemporary audience.

At its best, spoken word is a powerful, high-energy form of expression that attracts artists and audiences of all ages from a wide range of disciplines and socio-cultural backgrounds.

Shane's performances that I witnessed online were absolutely mind blowing, life changing, and inspiring.

He has a special rare ability to convey the feelings of humor, real life, happiness, pain, and captivate everyone who watches him perform. This ability comes from the facts that Shane himself is a victim and understands compassion, silence, loneliness, and the many inner demons that we experience.

Using the word "performance" for what he does is not accurate in describing what he does, because you can see, feel this mans heart and soul during everyone of his poems. He conveys this in a manner that defies those who are listening to what he says to not become truly emotionally affected by his words

 My favorite spoken word poems of Shane's are below: 

                                                        TO THIS DAY

                                  Magical words for the bullied and the beautiful.

 

                    

THE CRICKETS HAVE ARTHRITIS

This is about Shane's 9 year old hospital room mate when Shane was hospitalized. Shane writes the words of a poet and talks the emotions of a human being.

 

                                              THE STORY OF NOW 

                                                A Love Story.

 

You can watch all of Shane's  poems at this link-Click Here 

It is an honor to watch, hear someone so talented as Shane KOYCZAN, who can articulate to us who take much from his writing. 

Share his poems with your friends. 

This man is uniquely skilled and has much to teach us that we can learn and then teach others. Pass it onto your family, children and friends.

I KNEW THERE WAS A REASON-HAROLD KONIGSBERG PAROLED.

ADDED ON DECEMBER 3, 2014:
Harold Konigsberg has died at the age of 89 on November 23, 2014 and is buried at the Star of David Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 7701 Bailey Road, North Lauderdale, FL 33068. He is buried in the Star of David Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 7701 Bailey Road, North Lauderdale, FL 33068. Garden of Netanya section at the above Cemetery, in Lot 402, Grave 12. 

More information on his death can be found in my Blog post (CLICK HERE)and and also in my Blog post on his evil deeds (CLICK HERE).

MY Blog post of October 28, 2013 "I KNEW THERE WAS A REASON" begins directly below:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I knew that there was a reason I had stopped checking on a regular basis about his status. I had always monitored it every few months for many years, but have consciously avoided doing so for the past 2 years.

My intuition, the inner street learned honed radar that guides me instinctively had intervened to deliberately delay discovery of the unthinkable. Something I did not want to know was bouncing off my radar, keeping me away. That is, until the other day, when finally I gave in and checked his status.

It is about the status of Harold Konigsberg, the animal who had gruesomely tortured by prolonged strangulation my father Samuel Wolkoff for 5 continuous hours and then finally murdered him, (to read the facts about my father's murder click here).

The words screamed out to me in agonizing, shocking clarity, the grand injustice of reality that I had suspected, Harold "Kayo" Konigsberg is now free after spending more than 49 years in prison.

The now 88 year old Konigsberg was inexplicably released May 21, 2012 at the age of 86, from the Walsh Regional Medical Unit on the grounds of the Mohawk Maximum Security Correctional Facility in Rome, N.Y., according to information from the  New York State Department of Corrections. He is now on parole and living in Florida.

The two New York State Parole Commissioners Sally Thompson and Michael Hagler stated nothing on the record about their granting his release.

With good reason. Whatever they might have said would have been an insult to justice.

Michael Hagler and Sally Thompson of the New York State Parole Board could not have said Konigsberg had repented for the murders he committed, he was not contrite in the least.

And they could not have said he was a cooperative parole applicant, he held them in contempt.

And they could not have said relatives of the victims he has murdered were okay with the release, they never consulted any of the victims family's, including the family of the man he was convicted of murdering.

And they could not have said they believe Konigsberg’s half century behind bars is sufficient, his victims are dead forever.

And they could not have said that, at the age of 86 and suffering from unspecified health issues, he was becoming a financial burden on the prison system, penny pinching is not cause for opening the prison cell door for a killer. 

Although I do suspect his cost to New York State in a prison hospital had been bean counted by the bureaucrats as being too expensive, even for an animal such as him.

All the more astonishing, Hagler and Thompson have lengthy backgrounds as cops and criminal investigators. They should have known better than to end Konigsberg’s punishment.

I was just 10 wears old when my father was murdered by Konigsberg. He horrifically, casually, stole my father's life at the age of 42, destroying a part of my family and myself in the never ending suffering that he wrought on us.

My father cannot be paroled from his fate, my family nor I can be paroled from our suffering. Konigsberg should have served his life sentence without parole, no exception made.

I am well aware, more than others, that life is unfair. That evil goes unpunished and victims have no voice, no right, and their lives have no value to the dysfunctional judicial system. 

Somehow, I still had hoped that Konigsberg would die in prison, and come out in a body bag.

Konigsberg was a Mafia hit man serving a sentence of 20 years to life in state prison on felony charges of first degree murder, conspiracy and grand larceny stemming from the 1961 strangulation death of Anthony "Three Fingers" Castellito Sr., whose body was never found.

Most human beings lack the capacity to kill.

Some can push themselves to take a life if it means protecting themselves or loved-ones from bodily harm. Or they might kill in the heat of passion, out of some uncontrollable rage or the lust of revenge.

But very, very few people have the stomach to kill in cold blood. It takes a rare and special animal, not of the human species, to kill in cold blood, again and again.

Harold Konigsberg has that ability to kill in cold blood, with absolutely no conscience, and no feelings about his evil deeds, least of all toward his victims.

In fact he enjoyed his work immensely, often preferring to personally using a rope rather than a gun to kill his victims. Of course he made certain to always have a number of his henchmen present so that he vastly out numbered his victims,  He showed no mercy for anyone and was beyond ruthless in being monstrous, a prolific, pathological, sociopathic, predator killer. 

In 2008, Konigsberg complained that he has spent an excessive amount of time in prison because he rebuffed then U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy’s effort to make him rat out the mob.

During his too many years still alive on this Earth, according to official internal F.B.I. documents, and other sources who were not authorized to comment on the record, he has personally murdered over at least 24 people. He is suspected to have committed countless other additional contract hit man killings, some of Mafia related individuals and other totally innocent victims such as my father, who had no connection to the Mafia.

No one knows the actual number of people murdered by Konigsberg, and in all likelihood, he himself probably lost count a long time ago.
 
Victims families, including myself, and certain law enforcement are fuming that an animal killer has been sprung from jail after a surprise parole decision that will allow him to live out his final days with his daughter Edie, in a posh house, which is valued at $750,000, located in a gated community in fancy Weston, Florida. (See Below Photo)

(Later in 2013, Harold Konigsberg has moved to an ungated, no security, Assisted Living Facility located at:  Westchester of Sunrise, 9701 W. Oakland Park Blvd, Sunrise, Fl. 33351. Residents who live there describe him as a "big ass hole").

There will be no release from death of my father Samuel Wolkoff, no pity, no pardon, no mercy, no chance to be with his loved ones, no more time to spend alive enjoying the rest of his life. Harold Konigsberg made certain of that when he sentenced my father to eternal death, where my father now resides permanently at a non posh location, (See below photo).

The NY Daily News-Click Here For the Story- reports that even though Harold Konigsberg was released in June 2012, news of his freedom surfaced publicly only many weeks later in August.

Retired NYPD detective and veteran mob buster Joseph Coffey told the  Daily News it’s a “disgrace” that Konigsberg is free. “I knew him well and he was the worst of the worst,” Coffey said. “He enjoyed killing and enjoyed getting paid for it. He was a nasty bastard and he should have gotten the (electric) chair. I also know Joe Coffey and his words are some of the most respected, honest in law enforcement.

Konigsberg insisted to the parole board that he was not insane, but Coffey recalled that the hoodlum represented himself at an extortion trial in Manhattan Supreme Court and claimed he was crazy.

“He sat in a wheelchair and (defecated) in his pants right in front of the judge,” Coffey said. “I was there and he grossed out everyone and cleared the courtroom, but he was convicted anyway. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

During the recent Parole Board hearing, Konigsberg proclaimed his innocence and raised objections to the proceeding, which was conducted via teleconference, as well as to a risk assessment survey he was required to answer, but had refused to do so.

There was not a whiff of regret or sorrow from him about the victims and their families that he is responsible for destroying. He played his usual script of feigning deafness, self pity, and controlling what was taking place by mocking the law with his distorted demands about the way he was being treated.

At times during the hearing, the commissioners conducting the interview asked Konigsberg to be quiet and listen.
 
At the hearing, Konigsberg indicated he had been in the  prison hospital since Oct. 4, 2010 and had health issues.  

He had previously been denied parole seven times since 1998, but has been housed in the prison hospital for nearly two years with unspecified maladies that appear to have contributed to his release, parole records show. Board spokeswoman Carole Weaver said she couldn’t discuss his medical issues, which were discussed at the April hearing but are redacted from the transcript of the hearing.

Click here to read the full transcript of this parole hearing.

When specifically asked about his criminal history, he again showed no remorse, instead Konigsberg whined, "Whatever you got there, just keep this in mind, sir, with all due respect, that all this is over 50 years old. When does it end? I mean, you can't keep holding it against somebody for 50 years, 60 years, and say the crime was this or that." 

Such is the bizarre thinking process of this POS,  that somehow he should be shown compassion, for murdering scores of people, most of which he never got indicted for because of his ability to manipulate the legal and law enforcement systems weakness in protecting criminals, plus various "tasks" that he performed for certain Federal Agencies and politicians over the years.

Konigsberg said, if he was released, he "would live in a gated community but it didn't matter if he was paroled".

He rambled on in the transcript, "It doesn't make no sense, to be honest with you, doesn't make no sense to me whether I am paroled or not," he said. "All I have to do is be in a bedroom and watch TV. What can I do at my age now? If you want to hear, if they let me out in 2006, I would be now doing two hundred to three hundred million dollars worth of business." He said he could have made that money in the real estate business, using his skills as an "expert in escalating negotiations".

"As long as I am getting kicked in the ass, let me tell you right now, I want you to consider my age, my health and the fact that we have 49 years off the time," Konigsberg concluded at the end of the hearing. 

Konigsberg’s  life was chronicled by his nephew Eric Konigsberg in an article in The New Yorker and the excellent Book, "Blood Relation"-Click here.

Certain facts in this blog post and also in the book "Blood Relation" have been deliberately edited to protect myself and others. To the cowardly, but powerfully dangerous scum bags who murdered my father, as well as those of you in arrogant, incompetent, corrupt law enforcement, 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: Samuel Wolkoff was my father, a human being, he lived and will be remembered forever.

All of us above know each other, or about each other.

You know I have hidden away safely the written confidential secret official documents with my honest law enforcement and political friends, the written proof of all the significant, detailed, real, truthful, embarrassing facts that you never want revealed.

Not to be concerned about, it will remain buried, as long as nothing else happens to my family, myself, and other loved ones. We know the deal that protects all of us, that nothing else will be done by any of us about my father's murder, the reasons these documents will remain hidden, is the unspoken but very clear mutual understanding we all have forever, of don't ever again fuck with any of us in my family, and in return, we won't fuck with any of you by making the real truth public.

Justice not served, justice not given, nothing complicated, nothing new, an innocent, good person, a human life, that of Samuel Wolkoff taken away cheaply, disposed of easily by lies. As part of that process, I did the best I could to obtain  justice for my father.

My father's error 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 deed he did, paid back by these very same, who had him murdered. Horrifically, ugly, but brutally true, and they all got away with it, didn't bother any of them, never mattered to them, never concerned those involved to do anything in confessing about taking his life from us.

I will never understand the unfairness.

FIRST SHOT JAMESON-DEFINITELY WORTH A BOTTOM'S UP

The huge amount of undiscovered talent that exists in our world  and is never discovered is truly sad. There are so many systemic barriers in the way of talented people who possess amazing skills in many different crafts.

The "System" is designed especially in the area of cinema to keep out new talent. What we are left with is often at best mediocre films, non existent scripts, and bad acting.

This "System" victimizes those who have talent, but do not have the "connections", lack financial backing, or simply are blocked out by the whims of the small incestuous, corrupt, egomaniac circle of those who control whether a movie or show is ever made.

When something as imaginative as the Jameson First SHOT SHORT FILM FESTIVAL AWARD (Click here to read all about this AWARD PROGRAM AND HOW TO APPLY), 

I found myself truly impressed by this Corporate Whiskey Company's public relations and it's innovative initiative to help those who would never have a chance to get into the public mainstream.

Below I have placed the 3 winning short films for the 2012 year and the 3 that won in the current 2013 year.

I am not exaggerating when I tell you that these 6 films are beyond excellent! 

Take a few minutes and watch these 10 minute short films and see the true artistic cinema, writing, acting skills in their originality.

It will make you feel as I do, how very important it is too recognize that within our midst, we have so much wasted talent, who if only given a chance, can contribute much positive energy to our world. 

"LOVE'S ROUTINE"- WRITTEN BY SHIRLYN WONG & STARRING WILLIAM DAFOE

"SAVING NORMAN"- WRITTEN BY HANNEKE SCHUTTE & STARRING WILLIAM DAFOE

"THE SMILE MAN"-  WRITTEN BY ANTON LANSHAKOV & STARRING WILLIAM DAFOE

"THE VENTRILOQUIST"- WRITTEN BY BENJAMIN LEAVITT & STARRING KEVIN SPACEY

"SPIRIT OF A DENTURE"- WRITTEN BY ALAN SHELLEY & STARRING KEVIN SPACEY

 
ENVELOPE-WRITTEN BY ALEKSEY NUZHNY & STARRING KEVIN SPACEY
"ENVELOPE"- WRITTEN BY ALEKSEY NUZHNY & STARRING KEVIN SPACEY

JOSE MUJICA-THE POOREST PRESIDENT IN THE WORLD- S.O.S.-WE NEED YOU HERE TO SAVE THE U.S.!

Mr. Mujica come here and be the President of the United States.

You are the "richest" politician in the world. Save U.S. before we implode.

We will pay your airfare to fly here, salary is negotiable but will be more than your current wages, and we will even provide you with an excellent benefits package.

We need you. Save us!!!

Position open immediately.

OK- Something extra to seal the deal. We will even buy you a new, larger car for yourself and a personal bodyguard.

Please call us now!

I HATE FLYING - IF WE WERE MEANT TO FLY THEN WINGS WOULD BE PART OF OUR BODY.

It's no secret to those who know me that I don't like flying in airplanes.
 
While I do fly on a fairly regular basis, each trip requires on my part a process of letting go, of reaching the point on my flight departure date that I have made peace with the fact that my plane will crash, and when it doesn't, I am happily suprised.

I do understand that in its simplest terms that airplanes are able to fly due to two primary principles that contribute to the creation of lift, which is what makes flight possible. Those two principles are Bernoulli's Principle and Newton's Third Law. Let's break it down and look at each principle individually.

Bernoulli's Principle

By definition, Bernoulli's Principle states:

For an inviscid flow, an increase in the speed of the fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure.
From a practical standpoint, this basically means that as a fluid (air, water, etc) moves faster, it's internal pressure decreases.

But how does this help an airplane create lift?

Basically, the shaping of the wing "fools" the air around it into thinking it is a long rotation cylinder, and forces the air to travel faster over the top of the wing than that of the bottom. 

And according to Bernoulli's Principle, faster moving air = lower pressure. If we have lower pressure on top of the wing than we do on the bottom of the wing, we now have an inequality of pressures acting on the wing. There is more pressure pushing up on the bottom of the wing than there is on the top pushing down, which means we now have a total net force pushing up and we have lift.

Newton's 3rd Law 

Newton's 3rd Law is defined as: To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.

Airplane wings are fixed onto the airframe of the plane at a slight angle. It may not be easy to see for the untrained eye, but upon a close examination of an wing's attachment point to the body of a plane, one will see a slight angle.

This angle creates a deflection of air downward. As air hits the underside of the wing, even in straight-and-level cruise flight, it is forced downward. And according to Newton's 3rd Law, the forcing of the air downward causes an equal and opposite upward force on the wing, thus contributing to the creation of lift.

Makes sense. So what's the big deal about flying?

Statistics show (Click Here) that flying is one of the safest things that you can do.

If you are going to worry about dying, there are many more probable ways to die than on a commercial jet. 

Take a look at the chart below, which shows the chance of fatalities on a commercial flight compared to other causes of death in the United States.

Notice that you are more likely to die from a bee sting than from a commercial flight. The number one killer in the United States is cardiovascular disease, with about eight hundred and eighty-five thousand deaths per year. Each of us has about a fifty percent (50%) chance of dying of cardiovascular disease.  

Whenever we fly, we have a one one-hundred-thousandth of one percent (.000014%) chance of dying!

---

Odds of Death

DEATH BY: YOUR ODDS Cardiovascular disease: 1 in 2 Smoking (by/before age 35): 1 in 600 Car trip, coast-to-coast: 1 in 14,000 Bicycle accident: 1 in 88,000 Tornado: 1 in 450,000 Train, coast-to-coast: 1 in 1,000,000 Lightning: 1 in 1.9 million Bee sting: 1 in 5.5 million U.S. commercial jet airline: 1 in 7 million Sources: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California at Berkeley

Let me say, that all of the above sounds great, reads wonderful, and seems like a no brainer, but it does not help make better my dislike of flying.

I hate flying and these statistics do nothing to change my feelings, Sure, you can walk out the door of your house and a piano can fall on your head, or lightning can strike you on a clear, sunny day. Life is one big crap shoot, but there is just something about airplanes that gives me the creeps.

Let's start with the obvious point. Nobody can be unaware that airplanes at 30,000 feet plus high do not always come gracefully and gently into land when something goes wrong. I know, cars are much more dangerous at 55 mph, but they seem a lot more natural than airplanes.

In real life this doesn't make any sense, I know the ugly true facts about the dangers of cars, those who drive them, Driving Under The Influence of Drugs (DUI) or Driving While Intoxicated (DWI). I really know what can and does horrifically happen much more frequently with cars and people than with airplanes.

Today's Blog post is not about what what I should know, but one of those things we all have within ourselves that seems to make no sense, and why I can't seem to get rid of it.

If something goes wrong with an airplane, your options are severely limited. All the time before the flight you have to think about the prospect of actually getting on the airplane. I am not good with heights. I also expect to be in control somewhat of my ability to travel, while I am moving in space. I enjoy checking the oil, tire pressures, kicking the tires, filling the gas tank, doing the pre-trip maintenance check up, things that I am able to do with a car. It gives me a sense of feeling comfortable, a false sense for sure, but it works.

In an airplane everything is done to you in an airplane. You have to deal with the idiots at security and all of their self importance as they literally strip you bare. 

Once on the airplane, you're imprisoned with all your fears. You are told where to sit, when you must strap yourself in, which receptacle you may be sick, and what to eat and drink. You can't get out, or wind down the window, and half the time you don't even know what time zone you're in. If you decide to sing to yourself, the person in the next seat will probably elbow you in the ribs; and if your waking hours clash with what is supposedly a night time flight, you may feel obliged not to speak for ages.

And then, when you've finally landed safely, and may have to deal with the fact that your luggage has gone to another continent, you have a miserable time at your destination, thinking about how you've got to do it all again just to come home.
                       
                        LEAVING ON A JET PLANE-JOHN DENVER

Why this great, innocent song, you ask? Because the lyrics say that the guy is leaving on a jet plane and he doesn’t know when he’ll be back again. Probably because he’s dead.

In the case of John Denver, he was ultimately killed flying an airplane he owned, not exactly reassuring.

So, yes I hate to fly, but I do fly often, and am a reasonably "good flyer" because as I previously stated I have  already come to terms with everything that can go wrong on the flight. In essence, I have relinquished control to whatever, whomever controls that which we have absolutely no input as to its outcome.

Then there are the things that "they" don't want you to know.

Pilots falling asleep on the job (click here) is far more common than you might expect. In one British Airline Pilots Association’s survey of 500 commercial pilots, 56 percent admitted to having fallen asleep on the flight deck.  
Twenty-nine percent had woken up to find the other pilot asleep. 

Eighty-four percent said they believed their abilities had been compromised by tiredness in the past six months. While this might seem like unacceptable behavior, it is also very common. 



Who can ever forget the two Northwest Airlines pilots (now part of Delta Airlines) flying a jet with 144 passengers that missed its destination (Click Here) of Minneapolis, Minnesota by 150 miles on October 21, 2009.

The jet flew into Wisconsin, about 150 miles past Minneapolis, before turning back to land.

Air traffic controllers tried frantically to reach them, pilot Richard Cole would not say just what it was that led to them to forget to land Flight 188."We were not asleep; we were not having an argument; we were not having a fight," Cole told the AP.

Air traffic controllers and pilots tried for more than an hour to contact Cole and the flight's captain, Timothy B. Cheney, of Gig Harbor, Washington state, using radio, cell phone and data messages.


On the ground, concerned officials alerted National Guard jets to prepare to chase the airliner from two locations, though none of the military planes left the runway.

As the plane flew at an altitude of 37,000 feet, a flight attendant finally realizing that the trip was taking too long, called the cockpit on the jet's intercom system to ask when it would arrive, the NTSB said. 

Capt. Timothy Cheney, 53, told investigators that only then did he look at his cockpit display and realize he had flown past Minneapolis (surely it was at that moment he woke up from his deep sleep when the flight attendant used the intercom).

Aviation safety experts and other pilots were deeply skeptical they could have become so distracted that they forgot to land an airplane carrying 144 passengers. The most likely possibility, they said, is that both pilots simply fell asleep somewhere along their route from San Diego.


The many safety checks built into the aviation system to prevent incidents like this one or to correct them quickly, apparently were ineffective until the very end.


Not only couldn't air traffic controllers and other pilots raise the Northwest pilots for an hour, but the airline's dispatcher should have been trying to reach them as well. The three flight attendants on board should have questioned why there were no preparations for landing being made. Brightly lit cockpit displays/alarms should have warned the pilots it was time to land.

Here in the U.S., the FAA does not legally allow pilots to nap in the cockpit, but they have acknowledged they understand the value of catching a cat nap. In fact, a NASA/FAA study demonstrated the effectiveness of a brief in-flight nap in improving subsequent alertness and performance. According to the study, “a planned brief in-flight nap would be an operational strategy that directly reduces the physiological sleepiness engendered by flight operations.”

One pilot even acknowledged that cat naps are quite common.

"It’s not legal, but as long as you don’t do something wrong—like overshoot your landing—it’s actually safer. You can look at the other guy and say if you need 10 minutes….it really brings you back to life."

Oh, in case, you think that the airplanes gas tanks are fully filled so it could fly safely beyond it's destination, there is something else happening now instead to wake you up:

You do remember my Blog post about Ryanair Airlines  titled "I GOT TO PEE" where they were charging for the use of using the toilet on their airplanes, among other bizarre details about airlines- Click Here)

Guess what-Airlines don't want you to know- That they Are Skimping on Fuel


Airline cost-cutting measures are getting extreme. Gasoline for cars is expensive, but jet fuel is extremely costly. Some airlines are reportedly flying with less than 
recommended fuel levels in an effort to save money, according to a scary report (Click Here) by Spanish safety investigators. The report focuses on budget airline Ryanair, which is no stranger to cutting corners. Take this case (Click Here), in which the airline instructed its pilots to fly slower in order to save fuel.

Your Plane Is Filthy

With planes flying on tighter schedules than ever before, there's often no time for cleaning before a flight is turned around for the next group of passengers. Since cold and influenza viruses can live for days on surfaces, planes can become germ hotbeds. 

Watch out for seat pockets (where sick passengers may stash dirty tissues), tray tables (a study found that 60 percent of tray tables tested harbored the "superbug" MRSA), and airplane blankets (which are only washed every five to 30 days, according to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal). Pack antibacterial wipes and hope for the best.

I won't even get into the pilots who fly stoned on drugs and or alcohol. I know there are all types of random, sophisticated drug testing done today that would prevent this. I am sure it works efficiently and is nothing to be concerned about, sure, just like all the backup systems that were in place, but didn't work, which were designed to wake up the two Northwest Airline pilots.

Here's to safe traveling! 

                                    IS IT THIS- UP UP AND AWAY?

OR IS IT GONNA BE - THIS UP UP AND AWAY-SOMEONE WAKE UP!