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Source: DILBERT by Scott Adams
Monday, May 30, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Pope's Pedophile Advisor
Father Riccardo Seppia, a 51-year-old parish priest in the village of Sastri Ponente, near Genoa, was arrested on pedophilia and drug charges. Investigators say that in tapped mobile-phone conversations, Seppia asked a Moroccan drug dealer to arrange sexual encounters with young and vulnerable boys. "I do not want 16-year-old boys but younger. Fourteen-year-olds are O.K. Look for needy boys who have family issues," he allegedly said. Genoa Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco, who is the head of the Italian Bishops Conference, had been working with Benedict to establish a tough new worldwide policy on how bishops should handle accusations of priestly sex abuse.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Do you know someone like this?
- Talks to people stating the obvious as if they don't know the obvious
- Comes across as the authority on everything
- Always offers unsolicited advice
- Blames the outcome of most things on others
- Unbeknownst to him/her, the tone of their voice/conversation comes across as argumentative/confrontational
- More often than not, comments directly to a person on their appearance (weight, clothing, etc.)
- Doesn't realize that the reaction of others may have been the result of his/her own actions
- Doesn't realize that (given the above) he/she offends others because they are hesitant to tell him/her so
I know someone like this! Do you?
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Doomsday!
It came and went with no earthquakes, no tsunamis, and without a meteor hitting the earth. Harold Camping is currently in hiding and his followers were left with dejection and puzzlement.
"I was hoping for it because I think heaven would be a lot better than this earth," said Keith Bauer, a tractor-trailer driver and Camping follower. Bauer "had some skepticism" but put it aside because he believed in God.
Robert Fitzpatrick of Staten Island, New York, famously spent his life-savings to finance a massive ad campaign for the 'Doomsday 'message. When 'Doomsday' failed to materialize, Fitzpatrick was stunned. "I don't understand why nothing is happening. It's not a mistake. I did what I had to do. I did what the Bible said"
"I was hoping for it because I think heaven would be a lot better than this earth," said Keith Bauer, a tractor-trailer driver and Camping follower. Bauer "had some skepticism" but put it aside because he believed in God.
Robert Fitzpatrick of Staten Island, New York, famously spent his life-savings to finance a massive ad campaign for the 'Doomsday 'message. When 'Doomsday' failed to materialize, Fitzpatrick was stunned. "I don't understand why nothing is happening. It's not a mistake. I did what I had to do. I did what the Bible said"
Thursday, May 19, 2011
It's OK to be Takei
A bill that would prohibit teachers from discussing homosexuality in the classroom before the ninth grade has advanced in Tennessee's Senate.
Another reason I could not retire/relocate to Tennessee…not to mention the floods this year. Who could give a f**k about eliminating the use of the word gay. Obviously the good citizens of Tennessee do…that’s who. Stop the insanity! Some of my best friends are gay!
Sponsored by state Sen. Stacey Campfield (R), who unsuccessfully pushed the same measure for six years while serving in the House, the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill would make it illegal for educators to discuss any sexual behavior apart from heterosexuality with students in kindergarten up through the eighth grade.
I need to check the literacy rate of the folks from Tennessee! Oops...bible belt country! Nevermind!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
NBC = Nothing But Commercials!
OK...the routine around here is that when we wake up...and turn on the TV...it's WNBC's Today Show. Yesterday we turned on the TV at about 7:45 AM and I noticed an incredible amount of commercials from that time until 8:00 AM! I guesstimated about 20 or so commercials. I couldn't believe it...and thought that perhaps it was a unique situation! Well...today when we woke up...about the same time...I grabbed a pen & paper (just out of curiosity) to see if yesterday's commercial deluge was unique. It wasn't! Same thing! At about 7:46 AM the commercials started...and went practically non-stop until 8:00 AM. 21 commercials in all! Unbelieveable! Most of them ran about 30 seconds! Here's today's (no pun intended) line-up!
Time to channel surf! I've had enough! "Good Day New York" is looking better and better every day!
- At 7:46 AM - Wake up & turn on the T.V....then...
- Chili’s Restaurant
- Oreo Cookies
- General Electic’s Vscan
- Mercedes Benz
- ACT Total Care Dry Mouth
- Samsung Washers
- Ortho Home Defense Max
- At 7:50 AM - About 15 seconds of Meredith, Al & Ann telling us (the teaser) what's coming up next at 8:00 AM...blah blah blah...then...
- McCafe’s Frozen Strawberry Lemonade
- Petsmart’s Big Bonus Sales
- Lyrica (relieves Fibromyalgia)
- Straight Talk cell service from Walmart
- “Fight Back fast with TUMS”
- American Express Membership Rewards
- “America’s Got Talent” TV Show
- Broadway’s “Book of Mormon”
- Jennifer Convertible Sofas
- At about 7:58 AM...one minute of local news...then...
- Bridesmaids (The Movie)
- PNC Bank’s Virtual Wallet
- Empire Carpets
- Huntington Learning Center
- Broadway’s “Catch Me If You Can”
- At 8:00 AM - back to Matt, Meredith, Ann & Al
Time to channel surf! I've had enough! "Good Day New York" is looking better and better every day!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
37 Years!
Could Your Marriage Pass the “Green Card” Test?
(per the 2010 NY Times Marriage Test?)
Here are some sample questions provided by lawyers who sit in on such interviews.
Your Wedding
- On the day of your wedding, where did you wake up? What about your spouse?
- How did you get to the wedding? What about your spouse?
- How many televisions do you have in your house/apartment?
- If you are standing at and facing your kitchen sink, where is the microwave oven?
- Is your microwave stationary or does it have a revolving plate?
- How much money did you receive in your last paycheck/deposit? What about your spouse?
- Where did you and your spouse first meet? When was it?
- Who first spoke to whom?
- Why were you there? What about your spouse?
- Where do you keep your clean underwear? What about your spouse?
- What color is your toothbrush? What about your spouse’s?
- What did you do last night after work?
- What is the name of your spouse’s manager at work?
- What day is trash picked up at your house?
Being Presidential before being President
Candidate Barack Obama debating Senator John McCain in 2008!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Reflections on the Freedom Riders
May 4th marked the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders. If you didn’t know, Freedom Riders were civil rights activists (both black and white) who rode interstate buses into the segregated south. The first Freedom Riders left Washington D.C. on May 4th 1961…they never made it to their final destination…New Orleans. They were met with violence in Mississippi and elsewhere as witnessed below.
I was only 14 years old then and living in the south Bronx (New York City). At that time, I had never been further south than Philadelphia, PA… and anywhere further south than that seemed like another country to me. My view of the south was based on what I had seen on our black & white TV (like the picture above) and when my grandfather reported on what he had read in the newspapers. Years later…my uncle also told me his story about accompanying my great-grandmother on a train trip from New York City to Manassas, Virginia back in the late 40’s. Once they arrived in Washington, D.C. they had to switch trains…and had to sit in the car designated for “Negroes” for the remainder of their short trip to Virginia.
Even as a child, and then a Bronx teenager, I could go to any public bathroom. My friends and I enjoyed movies at the infamous Loew’s Paradise theater on Fordham Road…in an exclusively white neighborhood and we weren’t relegated to the balcony! Sure we knew that there were a few neighborhoods within the Bronx that were not the most hospitable to “Negroes” and we avoided them (check out “A Bronx Tale”…awesome!) Never the less, I had several white friends in elementary school (before their parents moved out of the area within a few years). Can you imagine, one of my closest friends was named Igor Heitlinger! (I need to try to find him).
I was one of two “coloreds” in Junior High School (my Mom falsified my address so that I could take advantage of what she perceived was a better opportunity…which it was). Then, I attended James Monroe High School…a miniature “United Nations” at the time. I had friends of all ethnicities…and still do! A few interracial couples even attended the prom! It was during the later years in high school that I became more and more aware of the atrocities happening in the south. But again…that was another world to me.
Then I attended the University of Dubuque, in Dubuque, Iowa (that’s a whole ‘nother story). With a total student population of just over 1100, there were about 20 “Negroes” attending the university during my freshman year. Given my past school experiences…this low ratio didn’t phase me at all. And besides…I was in Iowa…a state not heavily populated with us folk! In subsequent years…more “Negroes” attended…many from the south. At the time, to me, Dubuque was an island, isolated from the craziness of the racial turmoil escalating in the south. I used to joke “light-heartedly” with the southern “Negroes” attending the university, how they put up with this? I just could not comprehend it. Little did I know about the crap they had to live with while growing up. It was just incomprehensable to me.
Now…50 years later…knowing what I know, I would love to have an in-depth conversation with those southern “Negroes” to get their perspective on what it was really like growing up in the South back in those days. I ask now because I think they may have been somewhat “at a distance” from the white folks during their Dubuque experience. That’s just my perception. At the time, as a boy from the “integrated” north, I couldn’t see nor understand why there may have been this “distance”. After watching some of the coverage last week on the Freedom Riders…now I think I know why. I will definitely be watching the “Freedom Riders” special on PBS next week. I’m sure I’ll learn even more!
As my immediate family and close friends will attest, one of my favorite sayings is that “you are a product of your environment”!
I was only 14 years old then and living in the south Bronx (New York City). At that time, I had never been further south than Philadelphia, PA… and anywhere further south than that seemed like another country to me. My view of the south was based on what I had seen on our black & white TV (like the picture above) and when my grandfather reported on what he had read in the newspapers. Years later…my uncle also told me his story about accompanying my great-grandmother on a train trip from New York City to Manassas, Virginia back in the late 40’s. Once they arrived in Washington, D.C. they had to switch trains…and had to sit in the car designated for “Negroes” for the remainder of their short trip to Virginia.
Even as a child, and then a Bronx teenager, I could go to any public bathroom. My friends and I enjoyed movies at the infamous Loew’s Paradise theater on Fordham Road…in an exclusively white neighborhood and we weren’t relegated to the balcony! Sure we knew that there were a few neighborhoods within the Bronx that were not the most hospitable to “Negroes” and we avoided them (check out “A Bronx Tale”…awesome!) Never the less, I had several white friends in elementary school (before their parents moved out of the area within a few years). Can you imagine, one of my closest friends was named Igor Heitlinger! (I need to try to find him).
I was one of two “coloreds” in Junior High School (my Mom falsified my address so that I could take advantage of what she perceived was a better opportunity…which it was). Then, I attended James Monroe High School…a miniature “United Nations” at the time. I had friends of all ethnicities…and still do! A few interracial couples even attended the prom! It was during the later years in high school that I became more and more aware of the atrocities happening in the south. But again…that was another world to me.
Then I attended the University of Dubuque, in Dubuque, Iowa (that’s a whole ‘nother story). With a total student population of just over 1100, there were about 20 “Negroes” attending the university during my freshman year. Given my past school experiences…this low ratio didn’t phase me at all. And besides…I was in Iowa…a state not heavily populated with us folk! In subsequent years…more “Negroes” attended…many from the south. At the time, to me, Dubuque was an island, isolated from the craziness of the racial turmoil escalating in the south. I used to joke “light-heartedly” with the southern “Negroes” attending the university, how they put up with this? I just could not comprehend it. Little did I know about the crap they had to live with while growing up. It was just incomprehensable to me.
Now…50 years later…knowing what I know, I would love to have an in-depth conversation with those southern “Negroes” to get their perspective on what it was really like growing up in the South back in those days. I ask now because I think they may have been somewhat “at a distance” from the white folks during their Dubuque experience. That’s just my perception. At the time, as a boy from the “integrated” north, I couldn’t see nor understand why there may have been this “distance”. After watching some of the coverage last week on the Freedom Riders…now I think I know why. I will definitely be watching the “Freedom Riders” special on PBS next week. I’m sure I’ll learn even more!
As my immediate family and close friends will attest, one of my favorite sayings is that “you are a product of your environment”!
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