Rant #3,736: "Super Bad"

Boy, that title could be attached to what is happening in New York City with its mayoral shenanigans, or it could collectively describe what my son has gone through to get another job.

But today, on a much lighter note, "Super Bad" is actually the title of a 1973 compilation of then-current soul songs that was released on K-Tel Records and pushed through endless TV commercials 

Remember K-Tel Records?

Their albums, generally from the early 1970s through the early to mid-1980s, were compendiums of current hits of the day, and they sold millions of millions of copies during their heyday in the early to mid-1970s, or during my high school years.

On these albums, you might get Elton John and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, but you would also get the Sylvers, Reunion and a myriad of one-hit and two-hit wonders like Paper Lace and Blue Swede.

Not only that, but the albums were chock full of songs--20 to 24 songs per release--so to fit all those songs on each side, you would often get abbreviated tunes, much less time than the actual single or album cut actually featured.

You would often get real hitmakers--like James Brown and Joe Tex--mixed in with no-hit, at least in the U S., artists like Blue Mink and Cliff Richard.

I found out some time ago that, for instance, for K-Tel to get the likes of Elton John on one of their compilation LPs, they had to agree to take some lesser artists, like Cliff Richard, and these records were often the place where an artist like Richard--who was huge in Europe and throughout the rest of the world--were first heard by American listeners.

K-Tel was also involved in non-recording projects, such as Ronco, the home of Ron Popeil and his numerous kitchen gadgets and even more numerous commercials toting these products, like "Pocket Fisherman" and the like.

K-Tel was actually a Canadian company, and through various bankruptcies and other legal proceedings, I don't believe they exist anymore, at least as "K-Tel."

I guess I was looking for something different to digitize last week, which was a somewhat slow week for me due to Independence Day coming on a Friday this year, and I happened upon these LPs, of which I have seven, plus one or two others somehow linked up with the K-Tel name but not actually K-Tel records proper.

And yes, one of them was the aforementioned "Super Bad," an LP that features full and truncated versions of songs by everyone from Isaac Hayes to Freda Payne to Millie Jackson.

And "Super Bad" it is.

I don't know where I got this record, but the first side is pretty beat up but listenable--

But the second side is beat up and unlistenable, with more scratches than someone with poison ivy.

Happily, I have all the songs elsewhere from the second side, so I just copied them and moved them to the "Super Bad" file folder, ready for me to listen to them in the car.

I have digitized a couple of these other K-Tel LPs that I have in my collection--with titles including "20 Power Hits " and "Out of Sight"--and some of the albums play well, while others are--

"Super Bad."

But they are all a lot of fun, and 50 years after the fact, they are nice to rediscover again.

And I will bet that if you are around my age, and collected records during the 1970s, you, yourself, probably have at least one K-Tel album in your collection.

They are fun records featuring fun music from a different time and place ...

And it is nice going into the "Wayback Machine" every once in a while to redisover these albums and the music that they feature.

"The Night Chicago Died" anybody?

Rant #3,735: Nowhere Else To Go

My son had the next part of his assessment yesterday, so we will see how that goes.

The rest of the day ... well, just let's say that I could have lived without.

I am not going to tell you everything, but I will let you in on some of it.

Here goes ...

When we went to that job fair at Farmingdale College a few weeks ago, we met up with more double talkers than a professional tongue twister could ever possibly muster.

One was from an popular pharmacy chain, a company we have applied to several times in the past.

We went up to them, told them that we have applied to them online, and gave in my son's resume to them in person at previous job fairs, but nothing has transpired.

They said that they might have an opening my son could fill in one of their stores in central Nassau County, and they wouid get back to me on it.

I will give them credit, they did get back to us via a phone call more than a week later, but for a store that is so far away from us--a different store than they mentioned at the job fair--that it simply wouldn't pay, especially for a part-time position.

I asked the caller about the other position that was mentioned to us, at the closer store, and she said that she would have to see about it.

Well, the store manager of the closer store finally called back yesterday, and when he heard where we lived, he hemmed and hawed, finally telling me that even though it was closer than the other store, he needed somebody local.

I asked him if he knew any store directors of outlets that were closer, and he said thst he didn't know these people out of his territory, and continued to hem and haw until I finally said--

"Fuggedaboudit" and hung up the phone.

I was so angry at this point that I called another group that we met at the job fair, for the third time, the New York State Department of Labor, Suffolk County.

They gave us two people to call, both of whom I had contacted in the past and who I told them that would never call us--

And they never did.

So I called up again, and surprise, surprise, I got the supervisor on the phone, related again to her that these people were totally useless--one we had actually called as far back as January, and he never called back--and she apologized to me up and down, and told me that she would see to it that one of the gentlemen would call us back. 

I asked that they call back tomorrow, meaning today, because I already had one foot out the door for yesterday's assessment and had little time to talk.

So, of course, one of the gentlemen called about a minute before we were about to leave, and he decided the assessment was useless, stating that my son would need a different assessment before he should be placed anywhere to work--even though he has worked at various positions for about 15 years!

This guy said he wanted to meet with my son, and he said he would call me back later in the day to arrange a day and time next week ...

And I am still waiting for that call.

Let's see what transpired at yesterday's assessment.

We always seem to take one step forward and then take two steps back, and honestly, if we keep taking two steps back, we will soon have our backs against the walk, and there will be no other place to go.

Rant #3,734: Let's Get It On

Today is a big day for my son.

In the middle of the afternoon, he meets face-to-face, live and in-person with a counselor for the latest part of his long-awaited assessment.

This assessment is critical, because it will help determine what direction we will go to related to his future enlmployment, as well as some other areas of his quality of life.

I pushed for this assessment for months, but, for whatever reason, no organization that is set up and designed to do these things wanted to take him on.

In fact, the organization that finally decided to do this apologized for taking their time in getting this ball rolling!

Go figure ... I certainly can't.

He had the first part of the assessment a couple of days ago, a Zoom meeting that I thought went well.

I was there for that one, but this time, I cannot be there.

It is taking place at the local library, and it takes about two hours, during which time I am going to make myself scarce.

I can be in the library, but not part of the meeting, so I will most probably stay there, and maybe i will bring my laptop computer with me so I can do some work while this thing goes on.

I know that the counselor is going to ask my son a lot of questions in order to determine his aptitude to do certain tasks related to working and to his overall quality of life.

When we spoke to the counselor via Zoom, the organization that set this meeting up did so without providing the counselor with my son's resume, which hindered the counselor in knowing much about my son and his work background.

When I found this out, I immediately sent the resume over to the counselor, who now has it, and can work from it if necessary.

Look, my son and I have done everything during the past six months to get him further employed.

We have visited every store and supermarket to try to find him work, and we have been rebuffed, with most of them telling us to apply online, which we have done, to absolutely no avail.

We have spoken to many organizations whose express purpose is to help people like my son, and they generally haven't.

We have been to job fairs, both real and virtual, and quite frankly, we have found that people talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk, if you know what I mean.

We have looked at volunteer organizations, but quite frankly, my son has been there, done that early in his career, and now is the time to get a paying job for his efforts--and one very prominent one even turned him down because they didn't believe he could pass their volunteer test.

We have even contacted Jewish organizations, and that has, I'm sorry to say, yielded absolutely nothing.

Heck, I am going to my high school reunion not to reminisce, but to try to connect with people I didn't even know from 50 years ago with the hope that maybe one of them can help my son in his job quest.

The Class of 1975 maybe helping a member of the Class of 2014!

And while well-meaning people suggest a variety of different ideas, when i tell them we have already explored these avenues, they get upset, without understanding the situation at hand.

This is not a situation where my son is simply looking for a job.

He is a special needs person, and we have found that since the minimum wage was raised earlier this year, companies are simply not hiring these workers.

Thst is why the job that he has cut his hours by 75 percent due to this increase--no matter what they say--which has put my son in this unenviable situation.

The odds are against him. There are so many people in his situation that are out of work and don't even bother looking anymore.

And there are others, my son included, who have had their hours cut by a substantial amount since the beginning of the year.

Even his counselor from the organization which finally got him this assessment--someone whose very job is to help and assist people like my son to reach their full potential--told me over the phone that my son "will never work full time" after I questioned her about the snail's pace that it was taking to find another organization to do the assessment--

This is even though, at one point a few years back, my son worked two jobs at once and was working hours that amounted to "full time."

So yes, the odds are against him, but you know what?

I have every belief that he is going to make the doubters eat their words, and he is going to succeed, as he always has, beyond the expectations of the so-called experts, who don't know very much of anything.

The first step is this assessment, so yes, today is a big day for my son--

And I know he is going to do well.

Rant #3,733: Nothing From Nothing (?)

OK, so now we have the so-called "Big Beautiful Bill" to deal with.

The bill will impact numerous facets of our lives, but I am going to focus on just one of these facets.

I am not entirely sure what the BBB means as far as taxation of Social Security is concerned.

I think it means that SS will still be taxed, but based on your income, you can take it off as a tax writeoff when you do your taxes, both individuals and married couples.

It only lasts for two years, so I guess many of us will get a break for those years, and then it reverts back to the old way again.

Anybody have a better focus on this than I do?

President Trump originally promised that he would remove the taxes on Social Security entirely, but that isn't happening here.

It also doesn't impact high-wage earners, because they are making too much money per year while on SS to qualify.

It doesn't impact lower-wage earners, because they don't pay any taxes on this money to begin with.

And some say it will hasten when SS money will dry up by about a year.

After reading numerous articles on this change, I am still confused at how it impacts myself and my family.

I dont believe that my son, who gets SS disability, is impacted by this at all--

I just hope his Medicaid is not impacted, as the BBB includes changes to Medicaid.

Happily, he is under a Medicare plan for his health care, so he is covered, at least health wise.

But he is eligible for certain other benefits from Medicaid, so he might not be as out of the woods as I hope he is.

I guess we will see the impact of the BBB in the coming days, weeks and months.

I just, personally, find this all very confusing, and I don't believe that I am alone in being wary of the BBB.

It seems to be a lot of political gobbledegook, very un-understandable and wordy, but I can only hope that it lives up to its name.

I want this bill to be an "AAA" all around, but "BBB" might not be good enough.

For once, I hope I am wrong.

Rant #3,732: Independence

It is finally July 4th, and happy 249th birthday to the great United States of America on this wonderful, celebratory day.

As we swim, barbecue, vacation, or go to or watch baseball at the stadium or on TV, let's all remember that we are doing all of this in the greatest country in the world.

This is no fringe anniversary celebration; this is a day all Americans can savor, not just some of us.

Americans gave their lives for us to be able to have this great celebration, and we cannot forget that.

And for those people who hate this country ...

Well, you are just jealous of what we have accomplished, which is proven by the fact that these people hate us, but they still come here in droves.

Why is that?

Because we are truly part of the most free, most inclusive country on the face of the planet, and while these infidels won't admit it, they enjoy the freedom they have here, in particular compared to where many of these carpetbaggers come from.

My family and I are going to have a barbecue for just the three of us.

First, we have to do our weekly shopping, but by the afternoon, the grill will begin to heat up and be primed for cooking.

I just love to barbecue--

And bring on the hot dogs and hamburgers, because i do plan on eating plenty.

For some reason, I usually eat more when I barbecue, and I am sure I will do the same today.

Today should be a great day, as we lead up to next year, when we are going to celebrate our country's 250th birthday.

I cant even remember what I did 50 years ago during our 200th birthday, but I am almost sure that my family and I had a barbecue that day as we always do on July 4th.

I was 19 years old, in college, but I simply cannot pinpoint what I did on that extra special July 4th.

That being said, let's not put the cart before the horse.

Let's all celebrate and party like it's July 4, 2025, to take a spin on that old Prince song--

But most importantly, let's all be safe!

Have a great holiday, a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday. 

Rant #3,731: Hanging On the Telephone

Yesterday, I received probably the strangest phone call I have ever gotten.

And I received it when I was waiting for my appointment at the doctor's office.

It was from an investigative lawyer, who was gathering information for a case he was working on.

The lawyer asked me if I went to a specific school in the 1960s, and I said I did.

It was one of my grammar schools that I attended all those years ago.

He asked me if one of my teachers was so and so (i won't reveal the teacher's name) who I had in fifth grade, I believe. She left after half a year to retire, and her job was taken over by another teacher.

He knew all of this stuff because he did the research, and found that I was, in fact, in that class.

He asked me how I got to school each day, and I said that I had walked there, as everyone from inside my community did.

I told him kids from the outside were bussed in, and that is evidently what the problem he was investigating centered on.

Evidently, back in 1968 or 1969, there was some type of abuse of a child on a school bus going to this particular school, and somehow, it is tied into this teacher, I can't figure out how and he did not tell me much about that.

Or perhaps this teacher was not involved in any way, but he thought I might know something about the incident, since he found out that I went to the school at this time.

But he harped on the teacher, asking me if I remembered anything about her.

I know that she retired mid-year, and that is why we were assigned the next teacher.

I seem to remember that she was of Jamaican descent--in the Caribbean--and that I guess she might have been in her mid 50s to early 60s when she left.

This is all legit. I looked up the firm, and they are well-known for handling abuse cases.

I looked up the lawyer, and he is also legit.

I do wonder why they contacted me like they did, through a phone call rather than a certified letter, but maybe that is how they do things like this nowadays.

Yes, a very strange phone call indeed.

It piqued my interest, but you know what?

I really don't care to hear about this ever again.

I wished the attorney well, but that is that.

I know that for certain cases of abuse, there is no statute of limitations, so I suspect that the person claiming abuse is still alive.

Nearly 60 years ago, and now, there is some type of legal action being launched?

I won't even pretend to know how the human mind works ... but 60 years is a very, very long time.

And even though I have a very good memory, that is eons ago, and even to remember the teacher's name was a great stretch.

Well, that was something, wasn't it?

I mean, if he asked me other questions about 60 years ago--who my favorite baseball player was, what my favorite ice cream was, things like that, I could definitely answer, but the questions he asked me--

FUGGEDABOUDIT!

Rant #3,730: STOP

I put this up on Facebook yesterday morning.

It bears worth repeating, because I do not believe that people--and especially my fellow Jews--are getting the message about what is happening in New York City.

Please read this, and if you have already read this, show it to others, both Jew and non-Jew alike.

There is something dastardly going on in New York City, and IT MUST STOP NOW.

It obviously has spread to the suburbs, and IT MUST STOP NOW.

And what's worse, many Jews are buying into this--in particular, younger people of the Jewish faith--and IT MUST STOP NOW.

"If you can get a hold of Long Island's Newsday newspaper today, get it for the Letters section.

It was filled with praise for that garbage running for New York City mayor, with barely a mention of his blatant anti-Semitism.

He was praised for his "progressive" values, for his social media tactics and his youthful exuberance, but only one letter writer even delicately touched on his well-known disdain for Jews and Israel.

I guess the letter writers are choosing to miss a very important issue here.

To my Jewish friends and others, you simply cannot have a mayor of the most important city in the world, with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel itself, who backs Hamas terrorists, is anti-Israel, and has a proven past of blatant anti-Semitism.

It simply is unfathomable that this garbage has even gotten this far, but when people choose to turn their heads the other way, this is what happens.

And that includes many Jews themselves ... I have said time and time and time again that if Hitler ran on the Democratic ticket, Jews, and others, would vote him in because they vote the party, not the person.

And that is proven by the rise of this garbage.

Further, any union that supports this candidate is simply showing, and doing it very proudly, its own anti-Semitism.

I know it is very "chic" and "fashionable" to be anti-Semitic today.

However, we all know that if this garbage showed the same obvious disdain for specific ethnic groups, he would have been tossed out on his rear end a long time ago.

Why isn't this happening now?

It is pretty obvious, isn't it?"