The Bloggers have spoken. Thank you all for commenting. Happy Holidays to all !!

Armed Forces Recruitment Building Times Square

This post is basically a condensed version of comments I received from the prior post that I put up almost two weeks ago. Thank you to everyone who commented or read the post. I really didn't know how people would respond or if the post would anger people more than just try and see how they were feeling. What I got were some real thoughts that were well worth reading and provoked an even deeper thinking on the matter for myself. If anyone wants to read the whole of the comments just go to my previous post and click on the comments to elaborate on what the people are thinking. I think the following sums it up well.



If the MSM (Mainstream Media) would devote a day to all of the issues that you bring up, maybe we people would rise up and bring down the bastards.

When the Constitution was enacted in 1789 the founding fathers provided for Congress to "…lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States." However, according to the U.S. Treasury, in a historical context, the nature of these policies did not extend either to the collection of taxes so as to equalize incomes and wealth, or for the purpose of redistributing income or wealth.

I guess I believe, once again, that balance is needed. Of course there are politics, and governments and tactics and events that have been VERY wrong.What I can say about it is that
I have 3 brother in laws deployed in Iraq right now, as much as they want to come home, not one of them feels as though they are not serving a purpose or should not be there.I hope we soon find our country at peace with each other, keeping peace in the world, with a government that will keep promises, not steal our money, protect us and lead us in the right direction.

I'm also praying for change. Our country, every one of us, deserves it.

I'd like to see the numbers on what it costs to research and make these military mobiles because they keep cutting my federal student loans in half.

Bring the boys home. Forever.

Thanks from a former soldier in Iraq.While I was there I felt there was a purpose, but we need to come home and utilize our land and protect ourselves is how I feel now. Too many deaths, too many amputees,too much blood.As the tears roll down my cheeks that's how I feel King...almost forgotten like one of the girls says in the video.Thats how I feel.

Lets turn this country around and make it great again I dont give a shit what kind of a dog Obama gets his kids. I want him to be the next FDR Not JFK.
God bless you king and God Bless America

Who are we fighting and who did we declare war against? I'm a retired vet and having a few kids in the Armed Forces still stand behind our country, but give us a clear vision and a target.

Aye-aye on the Goldman Sachs guys getting theirs. Well eventually they will, but sooner would be better than later.

Personally, I want the war to be OVER. Done, everyone come home. NOW. It's is extremely difficult, then, to reconcile this with feeling so proud of my son and his comrades, and the work he did, and still do there.It's hard for me to put myself into the place of a mother there, trapped in my home with a hungry kid, and thinking "God, somebody just help us." What I need to educate myself on is: where would they be, these families, if we weren't there? I honestly don't know the answer, and so tend to bow out of the political conversations, and learn from you. All of you.I've wept with WWII vets, reached out to 2 mothers whose sons are in Iraq for the first time, and spoke on the phone last night with a young soldier with a prosthetic arm, that said "I was blown up before Christmas."So many stories, and yet, one by one, we're all just individual people trying to muck through a day. I've been as equally moved, since my son enlisted by the folks that say "throw me a rope" as I have been by the folks that have stepped up and declared "Here we are. We have rope."

I found myself shaking my head and my mouth wide open just reading it.

There are so many things wrong worldwide,I wish things were different. I hate war,fighting,dying...its all so painful to those going through such things and their families.

I believe the ordinary man on the street is used as a pawn in a global chess game run by the super powers and super rich.

A colleague of mine just spent 8 months in Iraq working with the Army on implementing the technology he comes up with in the lab. The big take home message is that it's HELL over there. I am in awe of anyone who can survive such environments and find a way to function with their families after the experience. We don't do enough to help them. Great, lifesaving technology get's bogged down in bureaucracy and politics, not technology, decides what the soldiers have access too. It's sickening. I agree 100% Bring them home. Soon.

All I can really say, I'M PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN - THAT HAS NEVER AND WILL NEVER EVER FALTER! My husband and my uncle (who did TWO tours in Veitnam) are former Marines. My other uncle was a Navy corpsman. My grandfather served in WWII. My stepfather was in Korea in the reserves.
There are good men and women that serve and they deserve the UPMOST respect. I say, "THANK YOU FOR SECURING OUR FREEDOM AND DOING ALL YOU DO!"
All that said, granting more power to the UN frightens me!

I want them home too, all of them, for many reasons, some of which you mentioned...

I've heard reports that our troops do not have the proper body armor because it is too expensive to provide to them... and yet we can spend billions to bail out Wall Street.And, yeah, when exactly did we decide it was OK for our government to throw the Constitution out the window?

I'm a Viet Nam vet, did not see much use in that war. I don't see any in Iraq. How many billions of dollars a week? Rebuild our roads and schools. Get the soldiers home now. Unlike earlier posts, I have not met a returning soldier from Iraq that did not ask the same question: "What the heck are we doing there, and why are we still there?". Too many have died, too much money has been spent, and it is time to stop.
If we can't leave until we have won, well, what does that mean? Where is the goalpost?

Excuse my language but this post? A-fucking-MEN. Seriously. Just the first paragraphs had me shaking my head in total agreement..

Some thoughts:
1) If I had to choose between a NYC taxi and an MRAP, I'd take the cab.
2) I have not been in favor of the Iraq debacle since the beginning. Afghanistan is a different matter;there we had a declared enemy (Osama Bin Laden) and knew where he was. Too bad the numbskulls in charge took their eye off the ball.
3) I fully support the TROOPS in all this mess; that is why I want them to come home now.

I am scared. I am so scared I want to scream and have the people scream with me. I see all this recruiting and extension of tours. When they all return it will be worse than Vietnam. How will we save those who return from the horror. How will we save ourselves?

Poor and frightened, but a little hopeful.and angry, I almost forgot that...very angry.

Kindness, Peace, Love of Humanity
Support for the troops
And the Hope they shall come Home soon.

We need change, let us each be an instrument of change.

Everyone....Please, Please save your money. Debt is the Devil. This world is taking anyone with debt and Shooting them.

That Congressperson (cant remember who) who savaged the CEO's of the car companies for flying private jets. I couldn't believe those guys were that stupid. Then he asked them if they'd work for a Dollar. That's when I got Pissed.
I don't like what's gone on in the corporate world lately (Greed and Idiocy), but Seriously....When is someone in the country going to ask the same questions back to our Reps and Senators.
"Hey Reps and Senators...YOU are driving our Country into Bankruptcy. YOU are Pissing our money away in Pork Spending....YOU have Egregious pay and benefits. WE THE PEOPLE are all losing job, pay and benefits ....When are YOU going to suffer along with your constituents????? When are YOU going to have Pay and Benefit cuts???? Hey smartass gov't worker, are YOU willing to work for a Dollar? YOU are as bad as these CEO's."
Why has NO ONE questioned THEM????

As a daughter to a vet, on day one of Iraq I began taking donations to support our soliders. Word got to 'the man' at work and they were upset. They didn't want to show any favor for or against when it came to the war. They forgot one very important principle - no matter which side you are on the troops and families of need our support - especially when the leaders in charge of our country make stupid mistakes. Needless to say I resigned from 'the man' and started my own business. Best move ever.

That I completely support our troops, but not our wars. We need to bring our men and women home. But if our government won't bring them home, we need to send love and care packages to them. They need to know how we feel - or THAT we feel. The motto "we'll never forget".. well I'll never forget our troops and what they're enduring in our country's name.

More than cleverness, we need kindness.
Truer words were never spoken.

Great comments from great people. I look forward to our country's progress and hope that we can have a more clear view of what we are doing and what needs to be done. Until then, support and embrace our troops overseas and the troops who are coming home to make the transition back to their home. I will do a follow up a few months from now to see how our opinions and lives may change or not. Until then, I will post on taxi stuff and Wall St. nonsense. That's what got you here in the first place, so back to it !!

I hope that everyone has their holidays filled with nothing but good tidings, health and peace. I will be posting frequently through the holidays and on a much lighter note. New York is already getting pretty busy for the holidays and I will share my sights and sounds with you. I'll leave you with a video from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade which Rick Rolled our nation. Damn that was cool. I've been Rick Rolled, and in ain't fun, but it is when you do it to someone else as the creators of the parade did. Nicely done. I am not Rick Astley, I'm just The King Of New York Hacks. Enjoy.

The King's Video Tuesday...Bring 'em Home !! This blog is long, but I think its worth it.

I am not a political pundit, nor am I Republican, Democrat, Republicrat, Independent, Libertarian, or any other through the list of parties etc etc...

I am a Taxicrat.

I pick up anyone regardless of race, creed, color, religion, political beliefs,and even if you might puke in my car...and generally 99% of the time we get along just fine. I lost friends in 9/11, have had friends fight in the Gulf War, The Iraq war, and still have people I know over in Iraq fighting this war. I have driven soldiers here in New York on leave to only hear how they can't wait to come home too. Young men and women. I have only one feeling on this matter as I have always felt...

I want them home...

Here safe within the boundaries and safety of our home. I want to see them for their birthdays or hear from them when their baseball team beat mine, even though they know I won't answer my phone when they do that...I want the people from Goldman Sachs to go to jail and not just the leaders of these institutions say "We won't take a $65 million dollar BONUS on top of our $600,000 salary like we did last year. " Send them to the front lines. They did not watch over our money....they stole it. These bankers and government officials have stolen too much of our hard earned money while our young men and women are dying protecting these private profitable organizations and our freedom. I am mad.

I saw some interesting videos recently that I thought were well done. These first two videos were from a you tuber named Sinistar the watchman who with a Guy Fawkes mask on claims to be a proud veteran against the war in Iraq. This is what his opinion is before you watch his videos "Now I must warn you, I'm ex-military, served in Iraq unfortunately, and I have an extremely low tolerance for stupid people and stupid bullshit. I'm not interested in your opinion, I just put info out there. Only open minded people are welcome here." Here is the link to his page Sinistar131313 which has many informative and maybe conspiracy driven theory videos, but that's for you to decide...

I'll share them with you and look forward to your thoughts.

This first video begins with a scene with John Wayne saying he likes straight talk and then a scene from "The Great Dictator" which has Charlie Chaplain in his first speaking role, and during the video you hear some of the speech he gives over the scenery, which I will also post the whole speech later.




This next video is of Aaron Russo .In 2006, Russo wrote, produced, directed, and starred in a documentary feature film entitled America: Freedom To Fascism which if you click on it you can watch the movie.It is long though. Check out his first link, a very interesting driven man.


Aaron also got to interview former IRS agents.Which they seem to have thrown the constitution out.



Now I find the following very interesting, for last month as I went into my day job on Wall St I saw a promotion for the corporation Navistar. They make trucks ...and Military trucks....And they had them parked all day in front of the exchange.

With fuel prices at an all-time high,the truck LoneStar® had to provide superior aerodynamics to enhance fuel economy. LoneStar makes the most of every drop of diesel with its styled hood and grille, large bumper, D-shaped cans and skirts. In the end, that puts more money in drivers’ pockets.Below is the LoneStar Truck....Pretty much the newest hippest truck out there... LoneStarFeatures from their website if you care.



This is where it got interesting, yet frightening...I see an advanced new military vehicle which the website for Navistar describes it as such. International® MaxxPro. Protects Against the Toughest Attacks.
The International® MaxxPro, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle incorporates the latest design in armoring technology and has been extensively tested by the military. The V-Shaped hull design is a proven technology used in theater today and coupled with other survivability factors; our vehicle is built with crew protection in mind.

The MaxxPro is built to withstand ballistic arms fire; mine blasts; IEDs; Nuclear, Biological and Chemical environments, that threatens the safety of its crew. Armoring flexibility allows upgrades to achieve the correct level of protection, based on mission requirements. International's proven severe service platform puts quality, durability and reliability where you need it most—on the battlefield.

All this tells me is WHAT war are we planning next to use these vehicles, and all the other vehicles they are making ?!?!? WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS !!Check out all their new military vehicles, some being commercial trucks so as perhaps to transport oil safely?? Hmmmmmm.

NavistarDefense-List of all vehicles. Oh and according to their website , Navistar has won 25 of the 28 military contracts bid. Not a bad track record. Perhaps the next Halliburton? I wonder how many bids I would win if I tried.


Water Jugs on both sides in the back of vehicle. Maybe we are headed for Venezuela next.
With all my experience driving, I still believe a yellow cab is tougher.




This is the full inspiring speech from 1940 "The Great Dictator" which for those who don't know Charlie Chaplin, it was his first speaking movie, he was famous for silent movies but as you can see in this scene he was a hell of an actor. This still resonates loudly. Just listen and compare today's changes.



The reason I would like comments, even anonymous ones is to get a feel of how ALL of us are feeling. Be anonymous or not. Let us know how you feel as I told you. A small step , but one in the direction that will show bloggers have views and opinions and these are from THE PEOPLE!!
AND these views matter, just ask my blogger friend from This Just In who made it all the way to the front page of the New York Times for her Health care views and prescription medicine facts, AND ALL she does for the troops overseas as her son is one of them. She is a true patriot, read her sight and be in awe of giving, that can not be ignored. I hope you found these as interesting as I did and hope that"Change" is on its way, because our country's diapers are very dirty. The Government is only a letter away from the"Goner-nment".

Hard for me to follow up Charlie Chaplain, but I am not a dictator, I am am just a Taxicrat called The King Of New York Hacks. Peace all, and if you have friends or loved ones overseas, don't forget the holidays are coming and donate to the proper causes, as I wish them all a safe passage HOME. My next post will most certainly be on a lighter note, Peace out .

THE BLACK CHEROKEE OF NEW YORK OTIS HOUSTON JR ...NOW BEAT THAT !!!!!

The King loves to meet REAL New Yorkers that bring a substance and aura to this city that can not be created elsewhere in the world and can sneak up on you in a New York minute at anytime. Well as I got out of my office late again and could not get a taxi to work the night, the catering hall across the street had about a hundred paparazzi's waiting for Elton John, Trump,Whoopi and a host of other celebrities to walk the red carpet when all of a sudden you hear Whoooooooooooo !!!!!! Whoooooooooooooo!!! Yeahhhh!!!!! Whooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

Coming from down the street and the scream getting nearer as this man was jogging and appeared almost like a reinarnation of Apollo Creed from Rocky fame. He stopped where all the paparazzi were and started screaming to them that he don't drink, he don't smoke, and he's seen Trump before and said he'll whoop his ass because hes a bad man. He screamed that he don't drink,don't smoke and keeps it real for America and its children. He was rhyming like Bruce Lee + Muhammed Ali = ME !! YOU want to know me Google Me I'm The Black Cherokee !!!

This was great stuff.

So instead of me doing my paparazzi stuff, I went and followed him jogging where he started screaming from the steps on Federal Hall and then he proceeded to Trinity Church to stand on these blockades that prevent cars from driving down Wall St and I videotaped him and asked him his name. Hope you enjoy it. He's also an artist and musician.
Here's his CD http://cdbaby.com/cd/otishoustonjr , his myspace OtisHoustonJrTheBlackCherokee!! , and here is another story about him from NYCTheBlog.

If you google him there is more about how he sets up next to highways here in NYC and waves to people screaming his thoughts and objectives. I also heard he does a weird act with oranges. I'll try to get that for you one day. Hopefully I will be able to get Joe the peeler, Cat on the Head guy, and The Black Cherokee all together for a Charlie Rose meeting with The King Of Hacks and really entertain the blogworld.

I love this shot, middle of Wall St screaming his words at hundreds of paparazzi as if the city was his , and at that moment....IT WAS HIS ...The Black Cherokee Otis Houston Jr. Obama, look out!

"DONT YOU BE TELLIN' ME WHATS GOOD , I AM GOOD AND YOU BETTER START LISTENING !!!".......Damn straight Otis, The King sure did!!

IM DAMN GOOD FOR AMERICA , IM SAVIN' IT !!


Enjoy the videos, the lighting sucks but you can hear his voice quite well. The one below is on the street right outside Federal Hall.



This next vid I took as he jogged to Trinity and began his speech, you can hear the King ask "whats your name" and he provides it along with other thoughts.Its funny how most New Yorkers just walk by without even batting an eye. That's what makes this city so unique, had he been doing this in Bakersfield, Ohio he'd probably be in a mental institution.





So in the last two weeks I was fortunate enough to meet REAL people like Joe the peeler and Otis The Black Cherokee, I may not be as real as they are but I am The King Of New York Hacks. Now Beat That !!!

Joe Ades The Peeler Man, and The King does Paparazzi !

Joe Ades is an infamous moving landmark who traverses the city streets pitching his one product, a potato peeler. Yes, you heard me, a potato peeler. He refers to himself as a "grafter" and not a salesman, he pointed out to me that he learned his trade in impromptu markets over in England where people would be hawking their own items like shoelaces to cough medicine. There is a reason he sits down which is how all the grafters did it in England he says because you can have a crowd around you and by passers can't see what's going on and therefore will be so curious that they will join the audience and watch Joe's brilliant performance.

He is 74 years old and this is him set up on Wall St Monday morning when I got to my day job. I spoke to him briefly as he ate his early lunch preparing for a busy day he told me. I then saw him later on my own lunch break and video taped this New York legend. He is supercool and does what he does better than anyone I've ever seen pitch a product on the streets of New York. Joe lives on Park Avenue and frequents The Hotel Pierre bar where he is known to polish off bottles of Veuve Cliquot champagne along with the regulars who know him very well there as I learned later. Read on, check out his work and enjoy the videos I took of him on my lunch break.


As you can see he decided to turn around and face Trinity Church when I returned on my lunch.

This is the bucketful of the product he sells, Star peeler.

He also shows off on his cart all the notoriety he has gotten in the past from Vanity Fair, The Daily News and the New York Post and others. Surely my article will be on there as well if Joe wants to make even more money.
Definitely a slice of the action, he just sits there and creates a buzz. Wherever he goes.
Joe on the Post.
More media publicity.
The Perfect Pitch man begins his routine, no one around, he just starts talking and showing how the peeler works and slowly people stop and listen. Cool stuff.
Now he's getting them hooked.
Showing off his Iron Chef skills.
I wonder if he is a Guinness book candidate for most carrots peeled ever?
Hook....Line....and BUYER !!!! She looks quite happy with her purchase !!


In the following videos you can hear a guy trying to ask him about the books he sold ten years ago to which he ignores, stays professional and continues on, also in the second video which shows his full show the bells of Trinity Church are ringing but Joe can drown them out with his passion for the peeler.






And yes indeed......The King had to buy a few too, thats my hand holding this AMAZING product that you know you want to have now.





It was then when I got out of my office late so I couldn't get a taxi now and had time to kill before I got my bus home. There is a catering hall righ across the street from where I work that has celebrity functions all the time and in one of my prior posts I got pictures of Brett Favre and The New York Jets who were attending here as well.

There were only a few paparazzi waiting in front of a small red carpet with a banner for the World Wide Orphan foundation. I walked over with my camera in hand and asked this small Chinese paparazzi dude who was coming and he replied" The Weeds" are coming.

I had no clue what he was talking about so I asked the gentleman below who informed me he's just a tourist from France and he was just watching to see who was coming. His name is Eric and he came here to run the NYC marathon which he did successfully, so I congratulated him and as you can see he was wearing the medal that the finishers received for their well done achievement. I told him about my blog and would he mind if I took a pic of the medal and he was more than happy to do it . We give the French a lot of shit, but this guy was real gentleman with a sense of humor too joking with me that we were waiting to see someone we probably didn't know.
Here is a close up of the medal you get for running 26.2 miles in NYC.
As Borat would say...VERY NIIIIICE!!!!
I have no idea who these two women were and the paparazzi standing next to me didn't like me rubbing elbows with them as I snapped away and asked who are these people to which they wouldn't tell me.
Then the lady on the left heard me asking who they were and she asked where was I from and I jokingly replied "Fox News" to which she grunted something about how terrible and unprofessional they are. I told them as I was laughing I was kidding and the paparazzi people didn't find it funny at all. If you know who they are please tell me. I think the Asian woman is a newscaster. Not sure though.
So then my little Chinese paparazzi dude ran up to me and told me "WEEDS" was here, so I saw a tall bald guy in a tuxedo and asked my new friend " Is that the weeds? " He said" No No No ...The WOMAN !!" Oh ok..I recognize her thats Mary Mcdowell I said to a paparazzi next to me, to which she replied " No its not" ...hmmmm...ok waiting for a follow up from her to tell me who it is and she wouldn't tell me !!! Damn poopanazzis!!! I told her I know its Mary something and I'll find out on the internet anyway. And I did ...Mary Louise Parker from the Showtime series "WEEDS" which I've never seen. She is a good actress in the movies I saw her in and as you can see she looks pretty good at age 44.
Here she is looking into The Kings eyes and trying to seduce me....I'm not THAT easy !!

This is Mary Louise Parker and Dr. Jane Aronson who is an advocate and is on the Board of Directors for this foundation that helps orphans around the world.This is her website. http://www.orphandoctor.com/ Good stuff.


After that nice photo I screamed at the both of them which I was no further than 3 feet away " How about a funny face picture ?!?!?! " I do that all the time with my family, nieces, nephews etc..ITS FUN !!! However the pooparazzi started apologizing and put their cameras down telling Mary and Dr.Jane how unprofessional I am , but the Doctor MADE a funny face and I got the pic of it !!!

One paparazzi told me its people like me who are ruining the business, I told him " Go fuck yourself, this is show business and I got the money shot sucker!! "Even better I told them I have a blog with millions of readers who will get to view my photo which is funny !! And then the president of SBG communications Shanta Bryant Gyan who overheard all this nonsense, and who was running the event gave me a press packet and took my information and was laughing along with me as the poopanazzis were still trying to scold me.

Dr.Jane, you rock for making the funny face...Mary , lighten up, kids like funny faces and that's who you were there to help isn't it. As you can see she is still looking into my eyes trying to seduce The King.
The following is a video of what Dr. Aronson does to help children around the world .



So in closing, Joe Ades is a character that gives New York that special pulse along with actresses like Mary Louise Parker and dedicated professionals like Dr.Jane Aronson who achieve great things unselfishly for other people in need, and then there are pooparazzies who make our pulse a little weaker.....but that's where I come in and bring the pulse back to a proper rhythm and also why I'm The King Of New York Hacks. Peace Out Peeps.