the berkes

Thank You

Several people reached out to me today, and I want to thank you all for your kind words...it is very much appreciated.

Dickie Dance

Check out Dickie breaking it down at Genna's graduation party...it is all grainy because the original video was pitch dark:

Why I Am Leaving Facebook and Twitter

For a few weeks now I have been contemplating canceling my Twitter and Facebook accounts. I have been on Facebook since the very first day it has been available (September 2006) to the general public, and I signed up for Twitter within a couple months of its launch (Spring 2007). Although I barely used either site very much at first I have become an active member of both services. My personal feelings of these two services are this:

Facebook is a true social utility site. A lot of people mistake this service as a social networking site (ala MySpace) but Facebook itself says its service is to connect to friends one already has…whereas MySpace is a way to find people to be your friend. This is why MySpace is open to the public by default, and Facebook is not open to the public (even as an option.) The long and short of this is that I had 285 friends on Facebook. That’s ridiculous…I don’t know 285 people that well. I only care about a handful of people on here, and I am connected to them via other mediums.

Twitter is a remarkable service that will continue to grow as it becomes the world’s best way to search for real-time/live content anywhere on the Web. The power of Twitter, and the effect it will continue to have on business, sports and news should not be underestimated by anyone. The great thing about Twitter is that you can still “follow” people without having an account. By going to search.twitter.com or directly to a person’s Twitter page an immense amount of real-time info can be found.

So now that I have given you intelligent overviews of what these two popular services are, here is why, as of today, I have canceled both of my accounts.

A pastor that I follow closely recently wrote about how he gets overwhelmed with the daily goings on of work, life, etc. He wrote about how he sometimes loses sight about what he really wants to see. And what he longs to see is God. He writes that we all see many different things throughout our lives; amazing, beautiful things such as, “…the Swiss Alps, the waters of the Caribbean, the Rocky Mountains, Niagara Falls, the faces of my wife and children.” But sometimes what he fails to see is the real, true beauty of these things…the beauty of God in that he created all of these things.

After I read the pastor’s blog about clarity and how he longs to see God, it hit me that I feel the same way. I have so much clutter in my head, and I feel so bogged down by e-mail, blogs, RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter (all of which I access dozens of times per day from my laptop, BlackBerry and iPod Touch) that there is no way I am allowing myself enough time to spend time doing the things that really matter. The things that really matter are having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and spending time with my amazing wife, daughter and the rest of our family (yes, these are in order of importance.)

I have come to the point that something on the list above (e-mail, blog reading, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) has to go. When it comes right down to it, the decision is an easy one for me…bye bye, FB…bye bye Twitter. I am taking back the hours (yes, hours) per day I spend on these two sites and I am concentrating on the more important things in my life.

I have a feeling some of you will think I am being pious and perhaps proselytizing here…and that is your right. I am merely here to tell you about a personal choice that I am making. I am certainly not judging anyone by how much they use FB or Twitter. I am certainly not suggesting you cancel your accounts and do what I am doing. And although I will never be shy about spreading and sharing the Good News, this blog post is not intended to convert you, or if you are already a Believer, to have you change your habits and how you worship our Lord. I am simply telling you why and how I have reached this decision.

I have been very involved with the explosion of the Web since it became popular in the early-to-mid 90’s, and over the years I have increased my time on the Web to the point that I now have to cut some of it out. I have had my own website/blog for over 10 years now, and I plan on keeping my presence on this blog and our photo and video sites up and running. I love sharing pictures and video of our precious little girl, and I enjoy writing about fiscal responsibility and politics. I know I can be opinionated, perhaps a little too much so, but this blog will continue, and I hope you will continue to join me here.

Please feel free to leave a comment below, or send me an e-mail ajberke@gmail.com

Cheers!

P.S. The pastor I refer to is Jerry Gillis - Lead Pastor at The Chapel in Buffalo, NY.

Emily Likes the Buffalo Bills

Last Monday Emily, Grandpa Dickie and I made our way down to the Buffalo Bills store at the Field House. We spent a bunch of dough, and Emily got her very own T.O. teddy bear!

Here is a short video of Emily crawling around our hotel hallway, and a quick shot of her at the Bills store.

Double-standard in the Senate

When I write about fiscal responsibility I am equal opportunity in my slamming of Republicans and Democrats. But today in the Senate, the Democrats were caught applying a double-standard to a Senate Amendment brought up by Jim DeMint, the Republican senator from South Carolina.

In a nutshell, senate leadership threw out DeMint's "Audit the Fed" amendment because it is a rule violation. Well, many other amendments are attached to this same bill and violate the same exact rule. DeMint even gets the senate leadership to admit to this.

I do not exactly know why the Senate Democrats would want to block this legislation. Why are they so afraid of a vote? Do the Democrats not want transparency and accountability of the Federal Reserve? This is just amazing to me. Shame on the Senate Democrats. This battle is not over...not by a long shot.

 

Freedom

The following was the "silent meditation" at our church today:

It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here.

Patrick Henry

Our real freedom, our salvation, came from Jesus Christ.

Do a Little Dance

Videos from Vacation

Here are a few to wet your pallette:

Crossing the Street

After Genna's graduation last night we had to cross Main St. to get to our car. Well, my mom and dad tend to get a little silly. Check this video out while they are standing in the median. My dad throws a dirty tissue at me and I catch it. Oh, and that is me screaming...

Cap and Tax - Republicans

Here are the following Republicans who jumped ship to vote with the Democrats on this massive energy boondoggle:

Mary Bono Mack (Calif.-45)
Mike Castle (Del.)
Mark Steven Kirk (Ill.-10)
Leonard Lance (N.J.-7)
Frank LoBiondo (N.J.-2)
John McHugh (N.Y.-23)
Dave Reichert (Wash.-8)
Chris Smith (N.J.-4)