Football Pool For the Troops

Football Pool For the Troops

My firm, Bondi & Iovino, is sponsoring a Football Pool For the Troops. We hope you’ll join in for some fun, and help raise some money for three worthy charities helping our troops!

WHAT– We're keeping the rules fairly simple. Here’s what you do: There are two NFL games scheduled for Christmas Day: The Philadelphia Eagles at the Dallas Cowboys, and the NY Jets at the Miami Dolphins. Guess the total number of points that will be scored by all 4 teams. You don't have to pick the winners; you don't have to guess the scores of the games. Just tell us the total number of points you think all 4 teams will score on Christmas Day. The winner will be the person who is closest.

As a tie breaker, choose the total number of points scored in the NBA
Christmas Day game between the L.A. Lakers and the Miami Heat.

Email your name, contact phone number and point totals for the NFL games and the tie-breaker to troopspool@bondiandiovino.com
or snail-mail to: Bondi & Iovino, Suite 120, 190 Willis Avenue, Mineola, NY 11501 or fax to 516 741-8598.

COST- Here’s the best part: Your entrance fee is a donation of minimum of $25 to any one of the following three charities:

The USO: http://www.uso.org/

The USO is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide
morale, welfare and recreation-type services to our men and women in
uniform. The original intent of Congress – and enduring style of USO
delivery – is to represent the American people by extending a touch of home to the military. The USO currently operates 132 centers worldwide, including ten mobile canteens located in the continental United States and overseas. Overseas centers are located in Germany, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Qatar, Korea, Afghanistan, Guam, and Kuwait. Service members and their families visit USO centers more than 5.6 million times each year.

or

The American Red Cross Military Members & Families Fund
http://www.redcross.org/services/afes/0,1082,0_321_,00.html

Today's American Red Cross is keeping pace with the changing military. Using the latest in computer and telecommunications technology, the Red Cross sends communications on behalf of family members who are facing emergencies or other important events to members of the U.S. Armed Forces serving all over the world. These communications are delivered around-the-clock, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. While providing services to 1.4 million active duty personnel and their families, the Red Cross also reaches out to more than 800,000 members of the National Guard and the Reserves and their families who reside in nearly every community in America. Red Cross workers in hundreds of chapters and on military installations brief departing service members and their families regarding available support services and explain how the Red Cross may assist them during the deployment.

or

Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund
http://www.fallenheroesfund.org/fallenheroes/press_room/item.php?id=29

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund is constructing a world-class
state-of-the-art advanced training skills facility at Brooke Army Medical
Center in San Antonio, Texas. The center will serve military personnel who have been catastrophically disabled in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The center will also serve military personnel and veterans severely injured in other operations and in the normal performance of their duties, combat and non-combat related.

You can send your check(s)to us, made payable to the charity(s) of your choice, at Bondi & Iovino, Suite 120, 190 Willis Avenue, Mineola, NY 11501, or you can donate online and email a copy of the receipt to
troopspool@bondiandiovino.com

WHEN: Please have your entries in by Friday, December 22, 2006.

PRIZES: Grand prize is dinner for two at the reknown MarkJoseph Steakhouse, 261 Water Street, NY NY. http://www.markjosephsteakhouse.com/

Additional gift certificate prizes will be given to runner-ups. (All prizes
donated by Bondi & Iovino.)

Any questions: Call Tony Iovino 516-741-8585

Enter as many times as you like and feel free to pass on this message to
anyone you think might be interested!
______________________________

______________________________________________

Name
Contact Number’
Email:

Total points, both NFL games: ______

Tie breaker: Total Points, Lakers v. Heat: ____

Charity Donation: Enclosed____ Sent by email______ Will Send____

Bondi & Iovino
http://www.bondiandiovino.com/
Suite 120
190 Willis Avenue
Mineola, NY 11501
516 741-8585
fax 516 741-8598

Christine Lavin: One Meatball

Lot's going on and little time to write. We had a wonderful holiday; one of the highlights was seeing the incomparable Christine Lavin live at Joe's Pub in NYC. What a treat!

Her new album is a compilation record of songs focusing on food.

Funny doesn't begin to describe it.

There are songs by several artists, including the actor Jeff Daniels, and a host of folk and cabaret singers. Lots of fun.

The special treat of the night, other than Christine including my wife and eldest daughter's names in her rendition of "Sometimes Mother Knows Best", was getting to hear Julie Gold sing a few songs, ending with her beautiful "From A Distance".

I first heard "From A Distance" done by Nanci Griffith, and I loved it from the first verse. I didn't much care for Bette Midler's hit version of it-- too campy and over the top for my taste. Hearing Julie do it, 20 feet from us, was indescribable.

Afterwards the artists hung around and kibitzed with the crowd as we filed out (and bought CD's)-- just genuine, nice people.

I enjoy these shows immensely. My daughter and I recently saw Bob Dylan at the Nassau Coliseum, and that was great, don't get me wrong. But seeing and hearing folk and jazz artists, up close, and talking with them after the show-- it's just very special.

I think the thing that really gives me a charge is that, whether it has been John Gorka, or Nadine Goellner, or Christine Lavin or Julie Gold-- they all seem to sincerely love playing music for people, and they seem to truly appreciate their fans.

It certainly makes me feel good about buying a ticket to see them, or laying out a few bucks for a CD If you haven't ever tried a small show like this, I urge you to go-- I promise you it's better than a night at the movies, and about the same cost!

Milton Friedman, RIP

It was with great sadness that I read of Milton Friedman's passing. It is fairly rare that I feel any emotion on the death of a public figure. Those that come to mind are Dick Young (a NY sportswriter I grew reading), Jim Henson and Ronald Reagan. I felt a pang today.

"Free To Choose", written by Milton Friedman and his wife, changed my view of the world. Each page was a revelation, crystallizing thoughts and feelings I had about the way the world really worked, putting into words and focus concepts I knew in my gut were true, but hadn't been able to articulate.

It is a must read for any thinking person.

With some minor ups and downs, we have had a sustained economy of low inflation and significant growth for the last 23 years. There is no doubt in my mind that the credit is due to Ronald Reagan's political will and Milton Friedman's intellectual prowess.

A better epitaph cannot be written of anyone: he made his time here on Earth count.

O.J. Writes A Book

So O.J. has written a book "If I Did It...".

First, shame on Judith Regan for publishing it, and greater shame on Fox for airing a TV show surrounding it. These people make me pray there really is a hell, for surely there has to be a special room there for these bottom-feeders.

Second, how is it this guy is still walking around? I suppose it's because we can't promise the Goldmans the same inept prosecutors that OJ had.

Third, anyone who buys the book or watches the show should be ashamed of themselves.

Fourth, I'd like to see a list of the advertisers for the show, so I know whom not to buy from this holiday season.

Finally, I hope this nonsense hasn't hurt the Goldmans and the Browns, and that they are finding peace.

Countdown Clock

In my lifetime I have seen the end of the Republican Party (Nixon, 1974); the end of the Democratic Party (Newt Gingrich, 1994) and a host of other dire predictions, all of which proved wrong.

The reality is that power, at all levels, is temporary. I don't care if it's Congress or a school board, the day you are elected your days are numbered.

That's why this is so frustrating for Republicans today. It's not that we lost. It's the number of reforms that were left undone by people trying to assure themselves re-election after re-election, failing to realize that eventually the country was going to shift away.

It pains me that key issues such as illegal immigration, energy policy, real national security, permanent tax reform, real education reform, the environment, judiciary reform, and many, many others have been left unaddressed by this Republican majority.

Take the environment. The vast majority of Americans are concerned about global warming (whether real or imagined), pollution, use of resources, etc. There are a host of ways to deal with these problems, but one of them is not simply denying their existence. There are a number of conservative methodologies available to deal with issues such as resource exhaustion (See for example PERC, a wonderful organization that cranks out sound, economic-based, market-oriented solutions to environmental problems).

But, since W, Frist, Hastert and the boys diddled around, we will now see a host of liberal schemes foisted on us, all based on systems that have repeatedly failed. The result? Marginal if not negative results (can anyone say MBTE?) and a ton of money wasted, wasted, wasted.

As with the end of a life, it's what we have failed to do that causes the most pain. As Whittier wrote: "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: "It might have been!"."

So I suggest to anyone elected to anything-- write down the things you want to accomplish in your term of office, get started day one.

And buy yourself a countdown clock.

Need A GOP Smile?

Check out the wit of Ronald Reagan:

Rumsfeld Resigns

Now?!? Now he resigns!?!

Was this Karl Rove's brilliant idea? Smart. Keep a guy in whom 100% of Democrats, 100% of independents and 85% of Republicans have lost confidence until the day after the election, I suppose so that W could look like he was standing strong.

Good move. Once again, a perfect example of the Bushes thinking of no one else except the Bushes, and little rich boy W finding it impossible to admit a mistake, even an honest one.

I just hope the Senate confirms W's new DOD before the keys are handed over to the Democrats, or else the post may wind up being filled by Ramsey Clark.

A Blue, Blue State

My good friend Bruce says he knew what a disaster this election would be for New York Republicans because I haven't blogged on political issues this entire election season.

He may be right.

Last night was a disaster for the GOP here in New York. Locally, the incumbents here on Long Island pretty much held their own, except for the judges where the Dems swept.

My initial reactions to the election are: we Republicans got what we deserved, and while I have grave concerns about some important issues, the truth is that on some issues the national GOP was so out of step with New York Republicans that the loss of Congress may not be a horrible thing for me and my family.

But this morning this red mind is in truly a blue state, both geographically and emotionally.