How to Achieve Fullness on Thanksgiving

           When it comes to Thanksgiving I’m not going to sit here and lie to you, I’m not a fan of most of the foods on this day. Thanksgiving is a day known to burst the waistline of your pants for the amount of food you eat before you have the turkey.

            In my family, before the turkey we have stuffed mushrooms, stuffed artichokes, beats, stuffing, potato pie, chicken soup, the list really goes on and on. Aside from chicken soup, I dislike ALL of it. Am I picky eater, you can say that but on a day where all you do is it, how good Thanksgiving is shouldn’t be measured by how good your meal was.

On a Thanksgiving that is less than a month from the super-storm hurricane Sandy, we should all be full with love for those family members around you on this day.

We should all be giving thanks no matter how much or how little we were affected by the storm that you can sit down with your whole family and enjoy this holiday.

We should all be giving thanks for the past year it’s been, giving thanks for the good and the bad because it has made this year special in some way.

People seem to just forget about the importance of Thanksgiving by just thinking it’s the holiday that is in the way of Christmas or recently the day before Black Friday & Cyber Monday. This way of thinking simply has to end. I know it’s fun to think about Christmas and that time of the year because it is a joyful one but you don’t have to look past Thanksgiving in order to look forward to Christmas. Christmas is a time for presents and giving but Thanksgiving is a little less selfish of a holiday.

Thanksgiving is that one-day a year when you should sit back and not worry about anything but giving thanks for everything and everyone you have around you. Whether we like it or not it is a special holiday. So this Thanksgiving give thanks to everything that you have and everyone that you love that is still around you.

       It's now coming up on week 11 of the NFL season, and a lot has changed since week 1 for the Jets. After week 1 the Jets were coming off a 48-28 victory against the Buffalo Bills and the offense looked like it's about to take off, Mark Sanchez looked like he was taking that next step and the Jets looked like a contender. 10 weeks and 9 games later the Jets are 3-6, they have turmoil in the locker room, they can't stop the run, Sanchez sucks and the offense is like a pee-wee offense.

      Honestly what the hell happened? Rex Ryan might be out of a job along with Mark Sanchez after the season. It is their fourth year with the Jets and they have gotten worse each and every single year. Mark Sanchez has the worst completion percentage in the NFL (52%) and also the worst Quarterback Rating. His awful QB play coupled with an awful rushing attack (3.8 yards per carry) combining them to be the 30th ranked offense (302.7 yards per game). It's literally disgusting to watch this offense. I would rather stick needles in my eyes then watch them operate. Now as for sexy Rexy who used to be a defensive genius but it seems he's focused more on losing weight then game planning for defense. The rush defense is ranked 28th in the league giving up 145 yards per game. The defense used to be the one thing to rely on and now they look old and awful.

     Besides the absolute filth that they put on the field every week, now the Jets are experiencing more locker room drama like last year. This week it was reported in the Daily News from an anonymous defensive starter saying back up quarterback Tim Tebow is awful. This is a great way to divide a locker room. It also leads to my next point, new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano and Rex Ryan came into the season saying they had this big fancy playbook for Tebow that will be impossible to stop. It's week 11 and Tebow has run the same 5 plays all season and hasn't scored a touchdown yet. There has been numerous situations for Tebow to come in and make a difference and he isn't given the chance, it's what the Jets brought him in for. Now that the Jets are 3-6 it is time for Tebow to get a chance, cause hey things really can't get that much worse... Can they?

Hurricane Sandy

      Last Monday night, the Tri-state area got hit with a category 1 hurricance, Hurricane Sandy. As a New York City resident  I never thought in a million years we would be hit directly with a hurricane. I wish it was just a hurricane though, this was the perfect storm. 14 foot high storm surge at high tide due to the full moon, which caused massive amounts of flooding and brutal 90mph winds that broke huge trees in half like they were toothpicks.

       I live in Staten Island, and people around here, including myself, thought that this hurricane would be like last year's, Hurricane Irene. Irene was a dud, a lot of hype for a lot of nothing. However, everyone was wrong and we should've listened when every weather station feared for the worst when this storm would hit. Areas of Staten Island by water were absolutely destroyed, areas such as Midland beach, New Dorp Beach, South Beach, Cedergrove Beach and Tottenville beach. The storm surge lead to massive amounts of flooding in these areas and destroyed just about all the homes located in the region.

      Days after the storm people from Staten Island were crying out for help from the government because we are truly the forgotten borough. Staten Island has more then half of the reported deaths in the entire city and hands down the most damage, yet more focus was put on other parts of the city. It took NBC reporters going to New Dorp beach and the residents down there to cry out on TV for help. Help did come, a little less then a week later from FEMA and Red Cross.

     I went down to Cedergrove beach a few days after the storm to see the damage myself and try and help out. There were no camera's, no politicians and no bullshit. The amount of people helping out complete strangers was incredible. The group I was with went from house to house to help clean out all the damage and do some demo to help the people out who weren't getting help from the government. My group would gang up with other groups to help out then there were women going around handing out supplies to help. It was one of the better things I've been involved with in my entire life.

    Staten Island was forgotten for the first few days after the storm, with all of the national attention on Manhattan and the Jersey Shore. However, even though we cried out for help we didn't sit around mopping and waiting for the help. As a community we all rallied around each other and helped. We did need help but we have done nothing but help each other out of these last few weeks since Hurricane Sandy ravaged our area.  I am proud to call myself a Staten Islander after being apart of this recovery, and continued recovery.

OH NOBAMA!

Obama dominates Romney to win 2012 Presidential election

       We thought the election would be closer then it was, however incumbent President Barack Obama cruised to a 332-206 victory in the electoral college over Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Obama also won the popular vote 51% to 48%. Being a Republican I'm extremely disappointed in America's decision this election. I understand that it is almost IMPOSSIBLE for an incumbent president to lose but I was optimistic that Romney could pull it off.

       Do I believe that Romney could do a better job then Obama? I really don't know to be honest but I do believe he is the lesser of two evils. When it comes to policies I once again Romney's is the lesser of two evils for a middle class family like mine. Obama believes that people like my parents should work there asses off to make ends meet and the taxes the government takes out of their paychecks goes to the people who are unemployed. It is not the governments responsibility to help these people that are too lazy to go out and find work. Obama would rather YOU stay home and do nothing and the government will help you out with the tax money they get from hard working middle class families. It's a socialist mindset and it's a step towards communism if you ask me, don't care if that's too extreme.

     Another thing I hate about Obama's policy is Obamacare. I think it's ridiculous, just look at Canada, they have national health care and it isn't successful. Obamacare is once again for those people who are too lazy to get a job to pay for benefits for themselves. Also, Obamacare will lower the salaries of everyone working in health care which is something nobody wants or needs in this economy. Just because everyone will have health care now if you need to get surgery or something else you are place on a priority list making it harder to get what you need. 

    A hands on government isn't what we need, it's too socialist. Obama doesn't care about small business the way Romney would. Romney is extremely experienced in the small business field and would know how to make small business prosper. If your family owns a small business, Obama believes government GAVE it to you which is false. 

    This country is in trouble now. Unemployment rates are still going up, the country's debt is increasing at a fast pace. I hope I'm wrong with Obama because I don't want this country to keep going down, its time to turn it around and get back on the right track. I just don't feel Obama is the right guy for the job. Let's all hope this country can survive over the next four years and a Republican will be voted into office in 2016. However, that's 4 years away so we will have to wait and see.