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What The Hoboken Mayor Really Wanted From All Of This Hoopla

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Pulled directly from the front page of the New York Times website a few weeks ago, I bring you exactly what Democratic Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer wanted from her unfounded comments regarding Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno and the state’s Sandy aid money. What you see below is a portion of the screenshot from the New York Times website that clearly states the only goal that Mayor Zimmer wanted to achieve in telling a falsehood about Lt. Governor Guadagno. Take a look for yourself:

dawn-zimmer-nyt

That’s right. All Mayor Zimmer wanted was to raise her profile in New Jersey politics. There is no question that Mayor Zimmer has aspirations for higher office in this state and – like a typical, untrustworthy politician – she warped reality to elevate her name recognition. What I want to know, though, is why she hasn’t responded to legitimate questions being brought up by the only major mainstream news personality that thought to investigate her claims – Megan Kelly. Take a look:

What gives, Mayor Zimmer? Stop running and answer these questions! Or, do you already know that if you answer honestly it throws your entire scheme over the edge and immediately eliminates any credibility that you have?

Remember this cowardice my fellow New Jersey voters…

Judge Janine Pirro Absolutely Destroys the Fake “Bridgegate” Scandal

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While the national, liberal media trumps up a scandal-that-doesn’t-exist in New Jersey and everyone in this state who didn’t vote for Governor Christie acts like this is the biggest story to hit the state since Hurricane Sandy, those of us with independent minds and nonpartisan leanings continue to shake our heads at our fellow man. Not only is this not a scandal in any way, type, or form, but it’s disheartening to see people that we would otherwise consider intelligent individuals foam at the mouth because of the foundation-less bullshit that the biased media is spewing around Governor Christie.

Cue Janine Pirro.

Like she always does, Judge Pirro absolutely wrecked the foundation of sand that this false “scandal” lies on and exposed the real political motives of the New Jersey elite law enforcement group and the dirty, underhanded connection to the Attorney General’s office. And on top of that, she compares the Attorney General’s office and their reaction to this nonexistent bridge scandal in New Jersey to the biggest political scandal of our lifetimes (mark my words on that one, by the way) – the Internal Revenue Service being used as an attack dog for partisan politics.

Listen up as the Judge explains reality here, folks:

Now, for those of you who saw that the Judge works for FOX News and immediately you heard a little voice in your head saying, “Ugh! Of course they’re going to defend him,” you’re an idiot. You are the very type of brainwashed fool that the biased national media is thriving off of right now. And for you others who went into watching that video thinking, “I don’t care what this Judge says, Governor Christie almost ruined the whole of New Jersey because of this bridge thing,” well, you’re just a fool. Get with the program. It was a traffic jam caused by a dope in the Governor’s administration that he fired and took responsibility for in the process.

That’s called leadership, you dummies.

I know we haven’t seen leadership in our national and state politics for seemingly decades, but that’s what it looks like! But then again, I expect that if you went into this short blog entry and video with an already-biased view, then you either didn’t make it down this far or you’re currently foaming at the mouth. And for that, I pity you.

The Major Connections Between Psychology And Paying Off Debt

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Recently, the FOX Business website posted an article called The Psychological Perks of Paying Off Debt. As a guy who just finished a long-term repayment plan that ended in fully repaying some $121,000 in student loan debt plus another $28,000 in interest, I was obviously interested in reading this article! Of course, not much of the information in the article was new to me, but it was reassuring to read that the way I’ve always interpreted what that immense amount of student loan debt was doing to my physically and mentally is actually true and not just my machinations. Here are some of the interesting quotes from the article that I wanted to share:

“Getting into debt beyond means of repayment” is ranked No. 5 on the Society of Occupational Medicine’s 2001 “Life Events Inventory,” which ranks the psychosocial stress of 100 life events. “Stress is one of the drivers for health conditions related to cardiovascular disease, allergies, diabetes (and) gastrointestinal disorders,” says [Carole] Stovall. That’s why paying off debt can result in physical healing. “When people pay off debt, they’re going to say ‘My stomach feels better, my heart feels better,'” says Stovall.

Regardless of what my doctor thinks is going on with my body, I’m convinced that my enjoying my return to the gym is directly related to not having a six-figure cloud hanging over my head. Now I workout not just because I need to for my health, but because I actually enjoy the entire working out process. It’s fun!

Eliminating debt is more than just a numbers game. It’s an act of breaking free from difficult past experiences. Debt associated with rough events — such as divorce or a reckless phase in life — is painful to carry around. So when you finally cut that debt from your life, you’ll likely “experience tremendous emotional liberation,” says Dallas-based financial adviser Derrick Kinney.

I guess I’m not the best person to make a comment on this particular outcome of paying off your debt because I don’t really carry around any emotional baggage. How this particular blurb translates to my life is that I can now actively plan and work towards achieving certain life goals that I should have achieved 6 – 8 years ago (for example, buying a permanent residence, building a sufficient retirement fund, and fully funding a just in case savings account). The article actually talks about these types of life goals in the context of buying a house and starting a family, so if you click on the link at the top of this entry, then you can read their take on achieving major life goals for yourself.

When you pay off a big debt, you strengthen your resolve to stay financially solvent. That comes with one important caveat: Your ability to stay out of debt likely depends on how you paid off your debt, says [Derrick] Kinney. If you worked hard to steadily pay off your debt, you likely have practiced discipline to keep your finances in check going forward.

Not only did I work hard to steadily pay off my debt, but I worked hard for years on end to pay off that debt! Even though I had a strong work ethic heading into my major repayment all of those years ago, there is no doubt that my work ethic and determination were both honed during this process. By adding precision to determination I believe I’ve developed a dangerous calculus for those obstacles that may get in my way in the future. There are a lot of ancillary skills that come along with devoting so much time and effort to a successful debt repayment – too many to list here. However, suffice to say that I agree with the point in the blurb above and I believe that my financial discipline is stronger than most individuals my age.

Click on the link above if to read more about the connection between psychology and paying off debt. Enjoy!

My September 11th Memories – Who, What, and Where

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With everyone posting their various memories from September 11th all over the interwebs over the last few days, I thought that I might join the discussion with just a few comments regarding what I remember from that day. These comments aren’t meant to be an exhaustive retelling of what happened on that day, but rather what I remember going on in my immediate surroundings before, during, and after the terrorist attacks in Manhattan, Shanksville, and Washington, DC.

The Manhattan Skyline Before the September 11th Terrorist Attacks

The first thing I remember is my Mom waking me up by calling me on the phone. I was only living in the fraternity house for a few weeks and school only just started the week prior. I didn’t have class until a little bit later that day so I was sleeping in. Anyway, I didn’t have a cell phone yet so my Mom called me on my house line (I was the only one in the fraternity house with a house line – more on that later) and wanted to know if I was watching the news. I said no, but flipped on the television to see what she was talking about. I hopped from MSNBC (my channel of choice back then) to CNN and finally to FOX News to see what was going on. And what I saw was pretty amazing – one of the buildings that comprised the Twin Towers was burning… and pretty high up, too!

I asked my Mom what was going on and she said a plane flew into one of the towers. We talked for a few minutes and then hung up. I kept laying in bed watching the television wondering if they were going to show a replay of the plane going into the building. And as I laid there watching the television screen, it looked like I got what I was looking for because I saw a plane fly directly into one of the buildings. Except, as I was watching the television I focused in a little bit more and noticed that there was already a building burning – this must have been a second plane! It was shocking to see that happen on live television. Absolutely, utterly shocking to witness.

Now, I don’t want to go through a minute-by-minute recap of that day, but needless to say that within an hour or so the entire fraternity house was awake and all classes had been canceled on campus. But unlike other days off from school, the guys didn’t rush out to get some food and drink to enjoy the day – we were all glued to the large screen television in the living room waiting to see what would happen next. Right after the plane flew into the Pentagon, I remember thinking and saying out loud that the airspace over the Pentagon was restricted and no one could get over it in the first place (I was wrong). I remember flipping through all of the channels on the dial and, remarkably, every single channel on the dial was either broadcasting news coverage of the terrorist attacks or on standby with a message of condolence related to the attacks. And folks, when I say that every channel was covering the attacks or on standby – I mean every channel on the dial. Every single one. It was truly a moment in television history, for sure.

One of the guys who lived in our house was a volunteer fireman. Somewhere around midday – after both towers had fallen – he jumped in his car and went to New York City to help with recovery efforts. When he came back later that night not only were we all still glued to the television, but he had the World Trade Center dust on his fireman boots and gear. It was unbelievable.

Another one of my vibrant memories of that entire situation was how poorly one of my professors handled the situation. I don’t know if I’ve ever written about this particular professor, but he was straight out of the 1940’s university setting – down the ultra elitist attitude and tweed elbow patches on his jacket. Anyway, what I remembered about this first class back on campus (the day following the attacks) was that this professor opened the class by saying, “Notwithstanding the events of yesterday morning, we are here for a different reason. So, let’s open our books to chapter one and begin reading about Cain and Abel.”

I was amazed at how cold and callous that professor was that night – especially considering that he was talking to a room filled with scared, horrified college students. This was a British Literature class where, over the course of the ensuing semester, we talked about traditional literary themes like good versus evil and the loss of innocence. Looking back, I shake my head at the lost opportunity that this professor let slip through his fingers. Here he had a chance to not just talk about these themes, but to show real world examples of these themes occurring all around us.

Anyway, the guys I lived with and I stayed up all night watching coverage of the cleanup and recovery efforts in New York City. We had news coverage on all day, every day. Everyone – including me – started caring a lot more about politics and who was trying to do what in our political leadership. Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of the guys I lived with as well as the students on campus either became Republicans or began voting Republican. It was the general feeling of the nation and that feeling was alive and well on Monmouth University’s campus.

It was a scary and yet fascinating time to be a college student.

And it was only ten years ago. On the one hand, it feels like September 11th happened yesterday. But on the other hand, the world has changed so much since then. It makes me wonder where we’ll be in another ten years. Hopefully, terrorism will continue to decline over the next ten years and we can – as a global society – begin working towards a stronger world peace. No, not the hippie version of world peace where we’re all holding hands and singing Kumbaya. Instead, I hope we can move towards a real, workable peace that serves to advance the human race as a whole.

Moving in that direction seemed impossible ten years ago. But today it seems like a totally reasonable expectation for the future. What an amazing ten years…

Stuart Varney Hits the Nail on the Head on the Topic of “Poor” Americans

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For years I’ve been confused by our country’s welfare system. Sure, we absolutely need to have a strong safety net for those folks in our communities that fall on hard times or need some additional support. I don’t think anyone would suggest that folks with special needs should be tasked with earning the same level of income that the rest of the population is expected to earn. That’s just not fair and, in America, we try to be as fair as possible (within reasonable expectations, of course).

Yet, sometimes I think we completely botch the job when trying to reach that noble goal.

The biggest example that I can provide is the fact that more and more of our fellow citizens are falling under the federal definition of being “poor” in America. Before I offer some comments, take a look at this video featuring the FOX Business Network’s Stuart Varney and, remarkably for the second time this week, Jon Stewart. And, if you can, try to avoid the less-than-funny comedic mocking that Stewart puts out there while digesting Varney’s larger point.

I had to post this video on the blog because it cuts directly to one of the (many) points that I used to battle out with my professors in the very hard left-leaning graduate school where I received my master of the arts degree. Namely, the people who are considered “poor” in America are mostly not poor… at all! Watch that video again – there are folks who think that they’re poor and yet they have a cell phone! A cell phone?! Really?! You mean to tell me that someone out there is considered “poor” and thus worthy of thousands of dollars of government assistance (i.e. yours and my tax dollars) and yet they have a cell phone, a car, a refrigerator, cable television, etc?

Are you f’ing kidding me?!

What’s the point in working for a living? Honestly, why should I go to work tomorrow? Instead, maybe I’ll just go to the welfare office and tell them that I need assistance. Think about it – they’ll give me enough money to keep my cell phone, car, and cable television – how is this is bad idea?

All kidding aside – this is one of the points that I really did argue about with my hardcore liberal graduate school professors. And I’m proud to say that this is one of the many points where I argued them into corners that they couldn’t get out of (over and over again). The root of my arguments was that everyone seems to be able to design research projects and define why we have to support areas and individuals who are at a disadvantage, but no one has even attempted to define how much is enough. Now, as my liberal professors were all hard left individuals, they immediately tried attacking me personally as opposed to responding with a reasoned, academic argument. They’d ask me if I had a problem paying taxes or helping the less fortunate (expecting me to say “yes”).

And that’s when I’d tell them that I consistently donate at least 10% of my income to charities ranging from scholarship funds to animal humane societies to their very own university and I simultaneously would halt their personal attacks, force the conversation back towards the academic argument, and win over the entirety of my classmates (conservative, liberal, and moderates).

It was a sweet scene whenever it happened. 🙂

But the argument would eventually go around in circles until it ended nowhere because, in truth, no one has an answer to that question. No research has been done on that question because the field of community development and public policy is pretty much dominated by liberal-minded people who would never think that, at some point, the spigot should be turned off. Thank God there are outlets like FOX Business to ask these questions to the masses and – more importantly – thank God there are individuals like Varney who are not afraid to draw back the curtain and show the Wizard of Oz in all of his grotesque simplicity. Look, folks – there’s no denying that our government is giving away the farm in social welfare programming to help “poor” people who could live as kings and queens in some third world countries on this earth. No doubt at all – and I think both sides of the aisle would agree.

What our challenge to the academic community should be is to research and figure out that dollar amount where money is no longer an efficient way of battling the problem of poverty in this country. When does money no longer alleviate the problems of poverty and, instead, other remediation techniques have to be implemented? When should we stop giving subsidized funds to individuals and, instead, give them a voucher for family counseling? Should we stop giving a per child stipend to single, unwed parents after their fourth or fifth child? Or maybe after their first? What about their tenth child?

Unfortunately, we can only answer these questions with our own personal opinions because the academic elite in this country refuse to research the questions that can give us real answers. Instead, they opt to research the same tried and true programs that they’ve reviewed for the last half a century. Sooner or later, that insanity has got to end.

The World Breathes a Sigh of Relief Now That the Miners are Coming Up

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Just a few quick comments on the trapped Chilean miners down in Chile. First of all, I’m sitting here watching the coverage of the miner rescue and it is absolutely intoxicating! I mean I can’t switch off the channel! The news channels – which were built for this type of round-the-clock coverage – are doing an excellent job of covering this rescue effort.

And folks, this is absolutely amazing, isn’t it? Imagine this – these guys were trapped underground for 69 days… and they survived! It’s amazing. Absolutely amazing.

And I don’t know if you all are religious people, but when you look at how this whole rescue effort came together and how successful it has been thus far (as I write this, the 31st miner is on his way up the tube), you have to believe that there is a good spirit out there that is looking out for these guys. I’ll call that good spirit “Jesus Christ” and some people will call it something else, but I watch this rescue and I know that there are real angels here on earth and that there is a real source of good watching down over us all.

But this coverage is addicting!

Bill O’Reilly Comments on the Catholic Church and its Current Scandals

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Today is Good Friday and for the world’s more than 1.1 billion Catholics (of which I am one), we spend the day fasting and remembering how Jesus Christ was tortured, crucified, and murdered for his message of peace. While I am not the best Catholic on the planet, I do try to adhere to most of the restrictions and regulations put into place by the Catholic Church for holy days of obligation such as Good Friday. So… I won’t be eating today as it’s a day of fasting and abstinence in the Church.

Anyway, for some time I’ve wanted to put up an entry on this blog about the Catholic Church and its current scandals. However, I haven’t been able to find the right words to say that the scandals – while individually horrible – are not the proper way for the public to frame the Catholic Church. FOX News commentator Bill O’Reilly actually wrote a column on his personal website yesterday that perfectly addresses the way that I think most Catholics view the scandals in the Church. The column, in its entirety, is below.

Over the years, I have occasionally written about being a practicing Roman Catholic, a fact that sometimes leads to incredulous statements like “YOU go to church?” Somehow, I don’t believe the question is a compliment.

This is a tough Holy Week for Catholics, as once again the terrible specter of child molestation is in the air. Driven by a series of articles by the New York Times, the church now faces questions about whether Pope Benedict XVI ignored some past abuse cases when he was a cardinal. The evidence is scant, but damning anyway, because of the previous priest-pedophilia scandals.

A number of Catholics have left the church because of the priestly sins, but not me. From the beginning, in Sister Claudia’s first grade class, I understood that the Catholic Church was about Jesus, not Father Flannery. Believe me, I saw so many loons in my Catholic school days that I should be a Buddhist. But it is the theology, not church leadership, that keeps me in the fold.

You may remember that I was a driving force in bringing down the villainous Cardinal Law in Boston, a man who allowed child molesting priests to run wild. When Law was forced to resign, I was happy. But then the late Pope John Paul II gave him a cushy job in Rome, where he remains today. If it were up to me, the cardinal would be in prison.

Even though I respected Pope John Paul’s holiness, I was deeply disappointed that he did not meet with molestation victims when he visited the United States in 1999. The pope should have done that simply to show devastated American Catholics, and the victims themselves, that he cared and understood their pain. When I publicly criticized Pope John Paul for avoiding the issue, the Catholic League scorched me. And that’s fine. They are entitled to their opinion.

Throughout it all, however, I stayed with the church. If you cut through all the bull, the doctrines of treating others as you want to be treated, forgiveness and redemption, and charity for all stand the test of time. Even if the atheists are right and there is no God, the philosophy of Jesus is full-force positive. Live the way he lived, and the world will be a better place.

The actions of others must be considered, of course. But I like this analogy: We’ve had some pretty bad leaders in America, right? Do they make you want to renounce your citizenship? The United States is not the people who lead it. It is all of us.

Same thing with the Catholic Church. It’s not corrupt priests or apathetic leaders in Rome. It’s Jesus and his followers, the folks who sit in the pews on Sunday. And that’s good enough for me.

Again, I think that Mr. O’Reilly does an excellent job of capturing the describing how most Catholics feel about the Church.

Unnecessary Complications: Post-State of the Union Spin

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As I was thinking about President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address that we will all be listening to tonight, I couldn’t help but become a little bit frustrated by what we will all hear after the State of the Union – the spin doctors. It really aggravates me that in 2010 we will have to be subjected to two completely different “fact-based” opinions on what the President said during his Address. What also bothers me is that every single Democrat or left-leaning media person will praise Obama like he’s the Second Coming (like they did during the election cycle) and every single Republican or right-leaning media person will decry his Address saying that he completely missed the point.

Frankly, in 2010 in America – that’s disgusting.

I’ll be watching the speech on FOX News and probably listening to their post-Address wrap up and thoughts. The reason why I choose FOX News is because they will at least bring on both Democrats and Republicans to give their points of view. While their standard slate of commentators (note – commentators) tend to lean to the right on most issues, at least I know that by watching FOX News I’ll be able to hear both sides of the story and that I’ll have a greater chance of getting a news person acting as a fair and impartial arbiter of the discussion. You can’t find that on MSNBC or CNN (though CNN has come a long way).

As for the speech itself, let me turn to the Asbury Park Press which published an article today that said the following:

It has been widely reported that Obama will announce programs aimed at the middle class on issues such as student loans. However, those measures will have limited appeal if unemployment remains high.

“He can do all he wants on college loans. But for those in dire straits, he has to go farther,” Greenberg said.

FYI – David Greenberg is an associate professor of history at Rutgers University. I’m interested to hear what Obama has to say about student loans. Those of you who frequent this blog know that I write about my student loans – a lot (see yesterday’s post). While I have created a plan of my own to repay this debt, by doing so I am effectively taking myself out of the for-sale housing market for the next two years.

Now, a few years ago I would say that I was an extreme example of how student loan debt could possibly hurt and stifle the middle class economy. Today, however, I think there are a lot more people in my situation (albeit at lower dollar amounts) than people may think. Sure, one guy in New Jersey who is handcuffed by six figure student loans is an extreme example of how one person can’t contribute to the economy’s recover…but when you multiply that times let’s say one person in each state, you now have 50 people that aren’t contributing. Then when you consider that there might be 10 people in each state in this situation (a likely figure), now you’re at 500 people that have good paying jobs, but cannot contribute to the economic rebound. Up that to maybe 1,000 people per state (again, not unreasonable when you consider the total population) and now you have 50,000 people not participating.

Simple math: 50,000 people x $250,000 (cost of each person buying one home) = $12,500,000,000 in new home sales

That’s a lot of zeroes, huh? And those are just numbers that I’m pulling out of the air. I’m confident that there are more than 50,000 college graduates who are stifled by their student loan debt and I’m sure that people would be buying more/other things besides new homes – like new cars, clothing, electronics, etc.

Also from the Asbury Park Press:

Recent Republican victories have been attributed in part to economic issues, with unemployment in double digits.

“The challenge is to frame a policy to create jobs, while cutting the deficit,” said Joseph Patten, an associate professor of political science at Monmouth University.

“Traditionally, you stimulate the economy by spending more. It’s difficult to do that when you have a spending freeze,” Patten said.

I had to include Dr. Patten in this entry because he used to be one of my Professors at Monmouth and the guy knows what he’s talking about. I wouldn’t want the task set before President Obama – find a way to generate new jobs while cutting the deficit and still finding a way to appease your ultra-liberal base by spending more money on more programs. Good grief!

Let’s see what Obama has to say tonight.

Happy New Year and a Prosperous 2010, Everyone!

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Happy New Year, folks! I hope that you all had a safe and happy New Year’s Eve last night, celebrating the arrival of 2010 in whatever way you saw fit. Personally, I kept my New Year’s Eve festivities very low key. After a quick dinner with one of my roommates and two of our buddies I watched the ball drop from the comfort and warmth of my bedroom. Last night was the first time in many years that I opted not to go to a party to watch the ball drop and it was very relaxing, calming, and enjoyable. 🙂

Happy New Year!

Just a bit of commentary on the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, New York City last night… I watched the FOX News coverage of the parting in Times Square last night and after watching the people in the Square on the television all night, I have a few observations. First, they’re all nuts! Who would want to be out there in the cold and sleet and nasty weather with crazy people all around you? Blech! Not me. Sure, at some point in my adult life I’d like to ring in the New Year by making the pilgrimage tp New York City’s Times Square, but I’ll wait for a much warmer winter to come around before that happens.

Second, most of the people in Times Square seem to be tourists. This prompted one of my roommates and I to comment that all of the real New Yorkers are probably watching (and laughing) from the comfort of a local bar or their own homes! But thank God for those tourists bringing their economic power to the City. Tourists help keep local economies afloat and all local people thank tourists for their purchases!

Finally, I included “prosperous” in the title of this post because I really do hope that 2010 and the entire coming decade is a prosperous one for all of my family members, friends, and readers of this blog. The last decade saw too many people lose a lot of money in a variety of markets. First the technology and “.com” bubble burst and then the housing bubble exploded a few years later. In the past few years the stock market went on a slide, though it seems to be recovering. There are many people out there – myself included – who managed to make the best of these situations and actually wound up in a much better financial position than before these crises! But there are far too many people who are suffering economically, physically, and mentally so I hope that the wealth of prosperity and happiness (and so much more) come to more people in the next ten years.

As for the rest of today – sit back, relax, and enjoy the day off!

Dr. Manny and Patti LaBelle Talk About Diabetes During the Holidays

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While some 8% of the United States population is diabetic there are millions more who do not even know that they have this condition. Lord knows that I had no idea about my Type 2 Diabetes until I went to the doctor for what I thought was an unrelated condition. Talk about ridiculously high blood sugar levels – I was testing at 426! The doctor told me that since I already adhere to a great diet of organic and real foods, it is highly likely that I can get rid of my Type 2 Diabetes by losing a considerable amount of weight. So I have to work on that, but in the mean time I have my condition under control thanks to some medications that I’m on.

Anyway, I didn’t intend for this to be a rambling entry! I ran across the video below that talks a little bit about how to deal with Diabetes during the holiday season. For those of you out there who are dealing with Diabetes or who have family members dealing with the condition, I thought that sharing this video might be helpful.

I hope that the information in this video has been helpful. All of the best for a happy – and healthy – holiday season!