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The Sunday Paper

How Much Should Your Kids Know?

The Sunday Paper

How Much Should Your Kids Know?

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With the terror act in Boston during the Boston Marathon, I have been thinking mostly about my kids and loved ones. I think about how many of the children in today’s society have to ask difficult questions during a difficult time, more so than in years past. I suffer that children feel compelled to ask these questions about why, who and where? Acts of terror have removed what little bit of happiness and innocence kids had the luxury and comfort to live their life by. Sure many experts will tell you to live your life and not worry about what you cannot control, but still to see a 10-year-old son of yours have to engage in conversations about terror is tough to watch and hear. To see kids have to run weekly or monthly drills on how to survive a school related shooting equally sad.

Boston Strong

What happened in Boston during the running of the marathon scarred people both in Boston and the U.S. abroad, as well as parts of the world. The main reason is because now we know that these people who submit themselves to the ways of terror, and to punishing innocent people walk amongst us and act just like one of us. The camouflage gets more and more transparent, more and more convoluted we become more and more easy to prey. The enemy gets harder and harder to pull out of the pack of common citizens and people of all nationalities that flee to this country to share a piece of our dreams. So we are almost forced to engage in conversations about safety and terror with our children of all ages, all of the time. It makes me sad that out of the blue my son will ask me a question about terror and terrorist acts that occur in the world in which we live. It scares me that the borders of the U.S. can no longer be a safe haven for its citizens.

Terrorist acts have become second nature to us, like a routine information report is to a police officer. We have to live with the thought ever so present in our heads, and watch every person that leaves just as closely as the one who approaches. Yes, there is not doubt that because of this act our nation will heal and be stronger just like the “Boston Strong” symbol, but the process of healing takes longer once the same or similar injury takes place over and over again, sometimes never to recover at all.

Our hearts aches, our bones break, and our soul endures darkness and pain like you could not imagine. Boston is on the road to recovery, and soon Boston Strong will be an after thought to everyone but those directly affected and remembered only by the anniversary of this hideous act. As for raising our families, I will never get used to my son’s asking questions about tragedies, and acts of terror, and this is probably something that will not go away anytime soon. As an American I love this country and serve this country as well. Raising a family gets harder to do when the ones we are raising are no longer innocent and have had to be exposed to an element that is trying to change the way we live our life each and everyday. Our heart goes out to Boston, stay strong!

Restaurant Wars – The Outback Comeback

American Restaurants/ The Sunday Paper

Restaurant Wars – The Outback Comeback

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With restaurants going to war for your hard-earned cash. Outback has stepped into the war with a great change to their restaurant menu and more importantly their prices. Just visited them last this weekend and I am here to report, that where their food was never in question, many different restaurants are fighting for your money, and they fight well.

Just this Saturday I visited them with my family and had an incredible meal, which I will explain in detail. More importantly where many people cannot afford to eat out, I am here to tell you that a family of four for under $75.00 is not completely out of the norm. We left stuffed by the way. With their new menu changes, one of my favorites took a hit. The Boomerang Shrimp platter is no longer on the Outback menu. So with that I had to make a change, I was so very pleased.

The Blooming Onion

A family of four for under $80.00. Yes, you can. My family dining consisted this evening of two (2) adults and two (2) kids but one of my kids, the twelve-year-old eats like the old man. So this is what we experienced that night. For starters, you cannot go wrong with the blooming onion. It is one of our favorites. I might add that while other restaurants try this, no one has this starter/appetizer like the one at Outback. They also bring bread and butter to the table on the house. It is tough to keep a family of four bill under $80.00 if you introduce wine and beer, or alcoholic drinks to the tab. So as a rule of thumb when I am out with my kids, no alcohol. Just trying to set a standard my kids can live by. Plus this is a family night out.

My kids, had each a meal. One had the kid’s chicken fingers and fries. The other had the Blooming Burger well done. Now the change comes to their menu with a new and introduced meal for $15.00 with four courses. Can’t believe it. I will describe it in detail. Also I suggest that you check the local Outback restaurant in your area, for any menu changes. I do not know if this is a regional deal, or state-wide.

A $15.00 4 course meal which includes the following. Soup (soup of the day) salad, you can choose from Caesar salad, house salad, and Blue cheese pecan (which we both had) it was incredible! Followed by the main course, my spouse had Salmon grilled with vegetables, I had the 9 oz steak with garlic mashed potatoes. Each of these comes also with desert. Either cheese cake or carrot cake. Anyway you slice this, 4 courses for $15.00 is an unbelievable deal. Actually the steak course meal was an extra $3.00 for the 9 oz steak, you can get the 6 oz steak for the same price as the grilled Salmon, $15.00. Try the new Outback restaurant menu and save money today with Groupon.

Don’t Shoot – A Chris Dorner Report

The Sunday Paper

Don’t Shoot – A Chris Dorner Report

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Well for one, coming from a family of law enforcement, and a person who truly respects the law. I will not post the picture of this criminal. By no way, shape, or form am I also making fun of this situation. This is a sad, sad day for military personnel, police personnel, and families everywhere in the U.S. as yet again, we face as a nation a truly horrific sad event.

Police reports are sketchy at best coming out of California, but they are pretty sure that the end of the Chris Dorner American terrorist scheme has fully played out. Unfortunately, it cost another officer his/her life. The results of this violent action has come to rest. For a more in depth article as the what exactly occurred please read my link to the huffington post right here…Chris Dorner dead.

Welcome To The Sunday Paper!

The Sunday Paper

Welcome To The Sunday Paper!

Online Coupons, Gift Cards, And New Jobs

Welcome to the Internet version of the Sunday paper.  This is the forum for all of your savings, job searches, and other pertinent information to get you through the other six days of the week.  With top information on all of these topics and sports too.  The latest information will not be far from your fingertips, plus you get only the information you want to get.

A little bit from me, my name is Jan Haffe and at the center most outlook of my family and for my family are the savings that I hope to bring to you and yours.  The Sunday paper will bring you an array of coupons for savings of all kinds.  Printable online coupons is what it is all about.  Safety coupons, and savings at your fingertips.  What more can any home-maker need to stretch the dollar in every direction that it can possibly stretch before ripping.  Online coupons is the name of the game when it comes to savings, I will bring you the best of the best when it comes to coupons.  So you want to start your savings campaign, then start right at the supermarket! Get your coupons and gift cards here!

If you are on the fast track for a new job, start looking in the Sunday paper online, for your new job today!  Start looking in the service field, and you will find that many companies are hiring.  Companies like McDonalds and Burger King, and Wendy’s, along with Taco Bell are hiring and aggressively so in many of the cities across the US.  The hiring is coming near you, if it has not already made it to your town, put your online application today. Fast hiring jobs are generally the type of jobs that you want to apply for as the Summer closes in on us for this year.  What determines a fast hiring job? Well to me a fast hiring job is a job that can be had in less than two weeks. You do not want to spend a large part of your time, searching for a job.  If you want to get hired by a fast food service company, then more than likely the process will be swift and quick.  That is what you want.  Additionally the raises and responsibilities come quicker than the job itself, but all is good because soon you will be off and running with your new job.

The Summer is normal for travel, and with your new found job, you will have new found money.  Money equals vacation and vacation has to add up to theme parks.  Whether you are a Walt Disney World aficionado like myself, or whether you like other theme parks like Sea World, Universal, and a host of others to include Busch Gardens in Tampa, the Sunday paper on the Internet will have all of the information that you seek to make your travel this Summer a good one.  Enjoy the site, as we get ready to get all of the information packaged right up for you and delivered in incredible fashion.  Get ready because you are about to get information like you have never received it before.

FRS – Leave It Alone!!!

The Sunday Paper

FRS – Leave It Alone!!!

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Those of us who have chosen public service as our occupation and have read the papers and Internet news sources today, without surprise we have found out that newly elected Governor Rick Scott and the legislature have began their promised attack on public employees.

Today 01-26-2011, Republican Representative Costello from Deland, FL filed HB 303 which seriously threatens the financial security of all Florida public employees. This bill starts by calling for the elimination of the “Heart Bill”, a law that provides protection to Firefighters, Police, and Correctional Officers if they become sick with certain illnesses and are unable to continue working. The bill extends the retirement age several years, it greatly reduces the benefits paid out to retirees and forces new employees to join into a 401-k type retirement instead of a defined pension as it is today, it eliminates the “DROP” program which allows eligible employees to shelter retirement money and continue working for 5 years.

It is very easy for professional politicians like our legislators or even a rookie governor like Rick Scott to claim that the economy is falling apart and that the problem is the Florida Retirement System, even after the State Board of Administration testified that the FRS is in good shape and improving. We have become so accustomed to accepting and never questioning our state government that they now can attempt to lie to us and laugh in our faces, then call us dummies and ask that we vote for them.  Not to so fast Rick, not without a fight!!!

The reality is that the FRS is running at 87% capacity when just 80% is considered great, and there is currently 109 billion dollars available for retirees that no retirement system in the nation can claim. From the Georgia and Alabama borders to Key West, every single public employee, employed by the State, the Counties, School Boards, and many municipalities will be negatively affected if this bill becomes law. From the unskilled worker, to the University professor and everyone else in between we will all lose. This is without a doubt the biggest attack on public employees in my lifetime and probably in the lifetime of most public employees in Florida. One would ask why are they doing this to us and our families? And the answer can become very complicated, but it is truly a simple answer. You see the FRS is working and it is making money for it’s retirees and it has enough to pay it’s employees and keep the books far away from the red. On the other hand the super rich in this country who sit in their plush offices in Wall Street see this and wonder why can’t they have something like the FRS making money for them while their members get to have a 401-k that surely will not be even a fraction of what our pension would pay those of us in the FRS.

Think that the Wall Street boys could not get away with robbing us of our pension? Think again. Who would manage the FRS if it was all a 401-k? That’s right, Wall street would be running the 109 billion dollars that our fund currently has. Don’t let the crooks get away with it. We must get active and let our legislators, the governor, and the editors of all newspapers know how we feel.

Editorial written by: Rafael Gomez, Miami, Florida.

Want to read the effects this will have?  Here it is!!!