Obstructed Views - Views From Another Point

On LinkedIn, I am part of a few blogger/writer support groups.  Yes, I do call them support groups, although we do not sit around and discuss our problems.  Rather, these groups helps us with our problems with regards to writing.  But I digress.

Through one of these groups, either Bloggers Helping Bloggers or The Blog Zone, I came across the blog Obstructed Views and immediately became a fan.  I may not agree with everything that is being written, but Obstructed Views makes some valid points about a lot of things.

If some of your remember, I wrote a piece called How to Make a Million Dollars After Prison, which was a piece I wrote off the backs of one of Obstructed Views piece titled Suck My Vick  Although I did agree with their take on the Michael Vick situation, I respected it a great deal.

I ask everyone to please welcome Jim Montgomery from Obstructed Views as my first guest blogger for this week, and I hope for many weeks to come.

Teacher Mocks Special Needs Students on Facebook

Read or watch the follow story Special Ed Teacher Mocks His Students on Facebook, then read my thoughts.

My question is, why did it take so long for this fool to be caught with regards to his posts.  If they found a long list of posts by him on FB, how long has this been going on? Was anyone from the school district noticing this on his page?  Of course they were, but why wasn't anything being done?

I am currently dealing with an authority figure using the R word to describe a stupid person or a stupid situation.  I tried to let it pass, until one day this person said, "We are being mildly retarted."  It was at this point that I know exactly that this person was well aware of what the word "retarded" means and it should have been obvious to this person, a long time ago, that perhaps using this word is not right.  But the funny thing is, she doesn't like any word that sounds like the N word.  The word doesn't even have to be a reference to the N word, it just has to sound like the N word.

I don't like hearing the R word to describe anything, because as far as I'm concerned, the "mentally challenged" are smarter than those that are not.

There's so much we can learn from them, such as patience and not taking everything so seriously.  We can learn not to get bent out of shape about things that won't mean a hill of beans in a week's time. Or even, in an hour's time.

I am not casting the first stone, nor living in a glass house, for I am guilty of using the word plenty of times in my youth and partially in my adulthood.  I never gave much thought to the word itself, meaning, I never thought of it offending a group of people.  But I get mad when I hear the N word used to describe something as in doing a quick fix - "n**ger rig it".  As far as I'm concerned, when I quick fix something, I MacGyver it.

Since I have educated myself about the R word, I am on a mission to correct/education people on the word as well.  I just have to figure out a way to approach this one person on the usage and how offensive it is.  Not to just me, but to a group of people.

Spread The Word to End The Word

The Last One Got Away

I am going to make this one short because a whole lot of explaining is not needed.

My dream was to make it as a musician. Not to be famous or rich, but to get paid to make music. Well that dream is gone - way gone and it makes me a bit bitter at times, I have to admit. I didn't have a good support system. I was too controlled and too beaten down by basically being told I couldn't make a living with music.

My new dream, and one I will reach is to be a paid blogger or a freelance writer. I will not let this one get away and do whatever I need to to make this dream come true.

I'm tired of accepting things the way they are. I've done it too long. I'm 45, to be 46 in a couple weeks. Life is moving at a comets pace and time is slipping by. I have a strong support system from my partner and my friends (Facebook, Twitter and in real life).

I know where I want to go, I just need a road map and a few people to point me in the right direction. My gratitude will not fall by the waist-side either.

I just to had to put this out to the universe and now I will await a return message.

My main area of interest is TV and/or movie reviews as well as writing blogs/articles of events I attend.

The Full Tilt Ponzi Scheme

I have been playing poker for a number of years - mostly for free and when I played for free I played like really money was riding on the line.  I always played on Full Tilt, but because they didn't accept credit card payments from US players, I never had money on the site. I just played with Play Money.  It wasn't until I learned of sending money via Western Union that I decided to put money on the account and play for some real chips - or so I thought.


Full Tilt always had the reputation of being the only legitimate poker sites around. (You can read the history of Full Tilt here: History of Full Tilt).

Before joining Full Tilt, I did extensive research and Full Tilt was always in the top 10, so I finally gave in and did my first Western Union transaction with them and boy was I excited. I played ring games at first, no limit. After losing, I decided to play limit games. Although a slow climb up, I was doing OK. My next move was to get involved in SNG (Sit n Go's) and from there get involved in real tournaments. Some that allowed you to advance to a bigger one or one that paid out to the top, let's say, 20 players out of, again let's say 500. I did good in both areas, so I figured my best bet is to play in SNG's or tournaments. The few months I played I thoroughly enjoyed myself. So much so, that I finally hit the live tables in Vegas and in a city near me. Which reminds, I need to get involved in their Sunday Tournaments.It had been knowledge among us poker players that there was a chance that we would end up in a Blackout, meaning all the poker sites (Full Tilt, Poker Stars and Absolute Poker) would be shut down.  The Blackout, from my knowledge was suppose to last only 15 months.  Knowing about the strong possible Blackout to take place I decided to play like nobody's business (basically get rid of my chips, because that's all it is now, chips) and of course I was winning.  Not big, but winning just the same.One day I tried to get on Full Tilt and was unable to do so.  I tried from a different computer and a different laptop.  I tried three times and even had a friend try and and finally she received the message that Full Tilt was currently down and explained why. I should add that before the Blackout started I tried to get my money off the account but the only way it would allow you to do that is to give them your bank account information. Well that wasn't about to happen. There was another way, but it was some long draw out thing, that by the time I received my money, I would have forgotten where it came from that's the reason I decided to play like there was no tomorrow - and guess what, there wasn't.


Several months had passed and a few times I have received emails from Full Tilt claiming they were working to get our money to us and for us to hang tight. A few months after that I received another email stating the same thing. I was going to write them after a couple of weeks asking for further information, but figured they would just refer me to their email, so I didn't bother. I thought I would wait it out.


Today I decided to look up the latest on Full Tilt and the payback of funds to its players and came cross this article talking about how Full Tilt was never a legitimate gambling site, but rather, a Ponzi Scheme: Online Poker Site Running Ponzi Scheme

From what I have red, Phil Ivey is now suing, or has sued the sponsors (Full Tilt) for $150 million (which he can share with the rest of us) and refuses to play in this year's WSOP (World Series of Poker). I am not sure what the outcome was of the suit or if he played. I basically stopped following anything poker related since the Blackout, which I shouldn't have done, but I'm slowly getting back into the game.


I don't think I will ever see my funds again, which I am fine with. But next time I lay some money down for chips, I will know my money is in on someone's cash drawer instead of in cyberspace and then the lining of someone's pocket.

The Snark Who Blogged Back - Blocking the Writer

As a writer, there's nothing worse than having writer's block, but perhaps having writer's block for a week or longer. I know there are writers that go months without being able to produce anything. I went through writer's block for about a week and I found myself thinking more about having writer's block than doing something about it. Basically, because I wanted the writer's block to just leave. I wanted it to disappear as soon as I plopped myself in front of a desktop or laptop, but it didn't. Instead, it really came on full force and basically laughed in my face because it thought it had me beat. And it did - for a bit. It wasn't until I started reading a post by a friend and fellow blogger. The contents of that particular post isn't important for this writing, but it should be read by many

The Snark Who Hunts Back - http://thesnarkwhohuntsback.wordpress.com/

Upon receiving a blog post of hers in my e-mail I began reading. I didn't read the entire post, but enough to realize why I was having major writer's block - because I'm not reading enough. You can't write unless you read. So, with that said, I say this. My blog friend wrote a great piece about that subject and I wanted to share it here for everyone.

http://thesnarkwhohuntsback.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/720/ - blog about writer's block and how to cure it.Actually, this post gave me a great idea. I think I am going to begin linking the posts that affect me and write why they affected me.

 Until then:Go read The Pretty Little Liars series

I'm Pretty Flawless Not To Mention...

Unbelievably Wicked.

Last month (August 2011) I began reading Pretty Little Liars written by Sara Shephard. I am not sure as to how I came about that book, rather the series, but I did and I am absolutely enjoying it. Pretty Little Liars (book 1) was one book I couldn't put down, next to Catcher In The Rye and The Help. I think I read that book in two weeks time. I am not saying that that book is a hard read. It's not by a long shot. But it is so well written that it transports the reader to the time and scene being written about.

Set in a rich area of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, it follows a group of girls that were best friends in seventh grade through high school at Rosewood Day (private school): Alison, Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily. After a tragic accident and then the disappearance of Alison (during seventh grade year), things change drastically for the remaining three girls. But not only does tragedy and the disappearance of Alison change them, time changes them. High school becomes a different environment with new people entering their lives and old one leaving. As together as people seem on the outside, their world is anything but perfect.

I never attended a private school or lived in a ritzy area growing but I can still relate to the characters in the book because, as humans, we all go through some crazy stuff in our adolescent and young adult years. This is what I enjoy about reading young adult books. Unless you skipped adolescent and young adult, anyone can relate to these books.

I have begun reading Flawless and as with Pretty Little Liars I can't put it down (thought at times I have to). I read it on my breaks and lunches at work and its the last thing I read before shutting off the light for sleep time. Unlike Pretty, Flawless is becoming a slow read because I am also reading other books to help me with blogging better as well trying to attend to my blogs (either writer or modifying them).

I know ABC Family made a TV show of the books and on Twitter there were people watching the show and posting at the same time. I had to turn Twitter off because they were spoiling it for me.

I am not sure if I will watch the TV show because it might ruin it for me as in the people weren't cast correctly or things were changed from the book - as is done with all TV series and movies. But curiosity always gets the best of me and once I am finished with the series, I will look at the TV show and give my take, as any good blogger should do.

Until next time:

"Two can only keep a secret if one of them is dead." Alison from Pretty Little Liars

How To Make Millions of Dollars After a Prison

I read a blog today regarding Michael Vick signing a 100 million dollar contract with the Philadelphia Eagles and how people are outraged over this. Well they were outraged when he got out of the hoosegow and went right into playing football like nothing happened. But it seems people are more outraged by the amount of money he is getting right now. I am one of those people.Here is the link to the article: http://montyobv.blogspot.com/2011/09/suck-my-vick.html

I am not going to comment on the other people mentioned in the blog, just on my thoughts on Vick.

I was a Vick fan when he played for the Falcons. Not a huge fan, but a fan. Then the story broke about him being involved in dog fighting and in the brutal torture and murders of dogs that lost fights. He was given 18 months in the hoosegow. Yeah only 18 months. That's how much a animals life is worth. I am not saying that an animal's life is worth more than a human's but I feel the crime is the same whether it was done to a human or an animal. That's where my frustration comes in. But I digress.

After Vick's release he was given a job of quarterbacking for the Eagles. As a friend said it best:

There is really nothing anyone can say that can change my view of this convicted animal abuser. Yes he served his time...yes everyone deserves a second chance. But no one comes out of prison with the opportunity to make that amount of money. The NFL claims to be a business...then they should act like a business and do back ground checks before you hire..because in the real world making a decent living..convicted criminals struggle to get decent jobs because of bad choices they made. The NFL should be no different!

I remember watching a show in which this guy was released from prison and was trying to get a job and no one would hire him because he had a prison record. He couldn't even get a job as a dishwasher and his crime was nothing close to Vick's.

I do believe strongly in giving everyone a second chance, but paying someone millions of dollars is not a second chance, that's a reward. I feel that Vick should have never been allowed back into the NFL so quickly. I feel he should have worked his way up like all convicts have to do to.

I admit that this infuriates me because I am an animal lover and animals do depend on us and that wasn't more apparent to me than in 2009 when my cat Facers, was diagnosed with a kidney disease and she was subjected to daily IV's and constant monitoring. But more importantly, she needed someone to tell her everything was going to be OK and she was loved and such. And that person was me. I happened to not be working that year, so it worked out great that I could be there for her. As of today she is doing great and very healthy. So while I am nursing my cat back to health, Vick is killing his dogs because they lost a fight and didn't make money for him. It's all about the benjamins with that bozo.

I don't think he feels one ounce of remorse for what he has done and how can he when he is being told that hey, we know you are the scum of the earth, but we want to pay you millions of dollars anyways.

It seems the NFL welcomes criminals. So if you want to make millions of dollars, join the NFL, commit a crime and you too can make up 100 million dollars.

I might have done more ranting than making a point, but this is just something I had to get out of my chest. If you comment, please be gentle.