Tuesday, August 30, 2011

And there are those who think she is Presidential?



"I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians.   We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane.   He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?'   Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now.   They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we've got to rein in the spending."

President GOD!



Genesis of the Judeo-Christian & Islamic Faiths


Genesis, the first book of the Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible, contains two origin stories, both of which are accepted as the creation of the world by today's Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths.   In the first, God says, "Let there be light," and light appears. In six days, he creates the sky, the land, plants, the sun and moon, animals, and all creatures, including humans.   To all he says, "Be fruitful and multiply," which they do.   On the seventh day God rests, contemplates his handiwork, and gives himself a good evaluation.   In the second story, God creates the first man, Adam, from the earth.   He makes a garden in Eden for Adam, but forbids him to eat fruit from the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil."   Adam names the animals but remains lonely.   God anesthetizes Adam and makes one of his ribs into the first woman, Eve.   A talking serpent persuades her to eat the forbidden fruit, and she convinces Adam to do likewise.   When God finds out, he drives them from the garden and makes man mortal.

Source: LiveScience

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

2nd Anniversary!


Yep!   I started this little spot here in blogsville 2 years ago today!   Why?   Someone new entered this world on August 23, 2009.   Who?   My grandson that's who!   Happy Birthday Romell!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

BFFs from Geneva, Switzerland!

The Background:
I live in a suburb within a 45 minute commute from downtown Manhattan (New York).   Tonight, around 5:00PM, I had to run a last minute errand to the local super market for a few odds & ends.   Typically, this supermarket's parking lot is insanity...so I always park across the street...as I did this evening.   Ran in and got what I needed and ran out!   As I exited the supermarket's parking lot and was about to cross the street to retrieve my car, traffic prevented me from doing so.   While waiting for an opening in the traffic...a middle aged gentleman...standing at the curb ask me (with a foreign accent) if I knew where to catch a cab.   He was accompanied by a woman similar in age and a younger fellow (early to mid 20s?).   I told him that he should go back into the super market and ask them to call a cab.   He looked at me somewhat puzzled/confused.   He held the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag in hand that appeared to contain a few items.

  • Me:   How long have you been waiting here?
  • Him:   About 15 to 20 minutes!
  • Me:   Where are you going?
  • Him:   We are trying to get to the train station to go to Manhattan.
  • Me:   Okay...I'm parked across the street.   I'll take you to the train station (3 minutes away)
  • Him:   Really?   How much?
  • Me:   Nothing!

We cross the street...and get to my car.   The three attempt to get into the back seat of my 4 seater.   I ask that someone get in the front with me (I think they still thought I must have been a "private" cabbie!)   Twenty something-year-old jumps in the front passenger seat...and I pull off.

  • 20 yr old:   How much?
  • Me:   Nothing!   (20 yr old looks at me in disbelief)
  • Me:   So where are you from?
  • 20 yr old:   Switzerland
  • Me:   Wow!   What are you doing here?
  • 20 yr old:   We are visiting my parent's friend.
  • Me:   How long have you been here (in my suburb)?
  • 20 yr old:   Just today.   My parent's friend is sick and they wanted to visit her.
  • Me:   So how did you get from the train station to your parent's friend?
  • 20 year old:   We took a taxi from the train station.
  • Me:   Ah.   Yes, there are taxis at the train station...but otherwise you have to call one to come and pick you up to get back to the station (or anywhere else in this great suburb of mine)!
  • Dad:   (in the back seat)   Yes...my son told me that but we didn't believe him!
  • Me:   Well in Manhattan...you can stand on any corner and "hail" a taxi...but not here.
  • Me:   So do you speak German?   (I then go into the whole spiel about my daughter and German son-in-law currently living in Munich)
  • 20 yr old:   No...I speak French....I'm learning German.   My parents speak French and German (and obviously decent English!)
  • Me:   When you get to Manhattan...be careful.   Do you need a taxi when you get back to Manhattan?
  • 20yr old:   No.   We are staying with friends and we have "subway passes".
  • Me:   Good!

We arrive at my suburban "commuter station".   Dad leans over from the back seat and insists that I accept $5 to pay for the "oil"!   I insist that I won't take it!   20 year old insists that I do!   I insist that I won't!   I ask that they give me a free ride when I get to Geneva!   We all smile.   They thank me profusely and exit the car.   As I drive off...I look back and they are waving.   My new BFFs from Geneva!   No names!   No numbers.   No e-mail addresses.   Life is good!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Books and a Beach!


I had the opportunity/privilege to lay on a beach and read some books.   That opportunity doesn't present itself too often, so one has to love/embrace it on the rare occasion that it does happen.   Bottom line...I need a beach to read!

The Beach!
Where?   Doctor's Cave Beach, Montego Bay, Jamaica.   It's usually listed as one of the top 3 things to do/visit in Montego Bay.   Water is cool, refreshing and crystal clear.   Walk out as far as neck/chest deep and you can clearly see your toes underwater.   Beautiful! Not the toes...but the fact that you can see them so clearly!

The books:
The Help - by Kathryn Sockett
Disintegration...The Splintering of Black America - by Eugene Robinson

I really enjoyed both...the beach and the books!

More Crazy Eyes!


"What people recognize is that there's a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline.   They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward.   And especially with this very bad debt ceiling bill, what we have done is given a favor to President Obama and the first thing he'll whack is five hundred billion out of the military defense at a time when we're fighting three wars.   People recognize that."

More on the lighter side!


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Cain: Impeach Obama over DOMA!



The latest from the Pizza Boy

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain suggested that impeaching President Barack Obama "would be a great thing to do" on a conference call with bloggers on Tuesday night, Politico reports. The former CEO of Godfather's Pizza predicted, however, that achieving such a goal would likely prove easier said than done. "Because the Senate is controlled by Democrats we would never be able to get the Senate first to take up that action, because they simply don’t care what the American public thinks," he said. "They would protect him and they wouldn’t even bring it up," Cain said, citing the administration's position on the Defense of Marriage Act as an impeachable offense."

Santorum - Same sex marriage destroyed the economy!



from Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum:

"Letting the family break down and in fact encouraging it and inciting more breakdown through this whole redefinition of marriage debate, and not supporting strong nuclear families and not supporting and standing up for the dignity of human life.   Those lead to a society that’s broken."

"If you think that we can be a society that kills our own, and that disregards the family and the important role it plays, and doesn’t teach moral values and the important role of faith in the public square, and then expect people to be good, decent and moral when they behave economically, if you look at the root cause of the economic problems that we’re dealing with on Wall Street and Main Street I might add, from 2008, they were huge moral failings.   And you can’t say that we’re gonna take morality out of the public square, morality out of our schools, God out of our schools, and then expect people to behave decently in a country that requires, capitalism requires some strong modicum of moral consciousness if it’s gonna be successful."

Isn't religion fun???

Rick Perry...Church & State


Friday, August 12, 2011

Anti-gay Indiana state lawmaker accused in same-sex prostitution scandal


Email rendezvous entangles state Rep. Phillip Hinkle
Lawmaker calls encounter set up with young man on Craigslist a 'shakedown'

Emails shared with The Indianapolis Star suggest that state Rep. Phillip Hinkle -- responding to a local posting on Craigslist -- offered a young man $80 plus tip to spend time with him Saturday night at the JW Marriott hotel.

The emails, sent from Hinkle's publicly listed personal address, ask the young man for "a couple hours of your time tonight" and offer him cash up front, with a tip of up to $50 or $60 "for a really good time."

The email exchange is in response to the Craigslist posting in which the young man -- who lists his age as 20 in the ad but says he is 18 years old -- says, "I need a sugga daddy."
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The young man told The Star that they met, but that he tried to leave after the man told him he was a state lawmaker.   He said the lawmaker at first told him he could not leave, grabbed him in the rear, exposed himself to the young man and then later gave him an iPad, BlackBerry cellphone and $100 cash to keep quiet.

More here: Email rendezvous entangles state Rep. Phillip Hinkle

Monday, August 8, 2011

Enjoy life NOW .. it has an expiration date!


THE SITUATION:
In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.   During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.   After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing.   He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar.   A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.   The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time.   This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:
The musician played continuously.   Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.   About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.   The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over.   No one noticed and no one applauded...   There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world.   He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.   Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story.   Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:
  • In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
  • If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
  • Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made...

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?



Saturday, August 6, 2011

The Teahadists!

Aside from Crazy Eyes...my other favorite is the Congressman from South Carolina...Mr. Joe "You're a Liar" Wilson!   I think I'll stay here in the Northeast!