I would like to see one day before Bush’s end of term that he speak before a regular audience instead of being placed in front of partisan friendly Republicans. I want him to hear from the people who disagree with him and not be sheltered and buffered against the truth. Maybe he will come to his senses and stop listening to the war hawks like Cheney and Rumsford and Rove.
How many more brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, mothers and fathers are we going to lose before someone in this ignorant administration will finally admit that the so called war was a mistake and that we pull out?
Mr. Bush seems more delusional than the worst mental patient residing in any of this country’s mental clinic when he gets before an audience and still professes that he remains optimistic that we are on the right track when it comes to the situation in Iraq. He tells us that the “Iraqis have spoken.” Yes, Mr. President they have spoken and are showing the world that they are on the verge of a civil war.
How long is it going to take before the white coats appear at the white House to take our President away? We are not transforming this area into an area of stability but are seeing this area becoming such a hotbed of instability that it’s putting 130,000 men and women in immediate danger.
The country that has WMDs is not Iraq but Iran who has recently given the UN the middle finger at the notion of stopping its nuclear weapons buildup. We have sent 130,000 soldiers not to do the job they have been trained to do but to act as social workers. Why, Mr. President? This is not what you told us a few years back.
How long is it going to take before non-kool aid drinking people in this country finally rise up and take over by tossing these incompetent bozos out of office? I don’t care who takes over, Republican, Democrat, Independent or whatever other label one wants to put on themselves, I just want a leader that is competent.
2.24.2006
2.19.2006
Auto Insurance Fiasco
Here’s another example of how we’ve become a nation of sheep
A story in today’s Boston Globe points out how it takes only a matter of weeks for an Insurance Company to determine that a driver was at fault in an auto accident, yet it will take that same driver twelve to eighteen months for the appeal process to be heard. In the meantime while these appealing drivers wait for a hearing they are forced to pay a surcharge which will be returned without interest if the driver wins the appeal.
Not a bad way to make some extra money for these sleazy Insurance Companies as if they need more money. They can invest your money to make additional money yet if you win your appeal they say thank you very much for the business. With roughly 60 percent of appellants winning their cases, which means close to 30,000 consumers a year are paying surcharges they shouldn't be paying. But as sheep we just follow the sleazy shepherd (Insurance Companies) to the slaughterhouse.
I wonder who’s sleeping with the shepherd. I wonder who’s benefiting from this inept form of appeal process. I wonder who gave us this wonderful system of surcharges. I would get better odds dealing with a loan shark, but lo and behold for them to do it is illegal but when the Insurance Companies do the same it’s lawful. Why?
Answer: Our wonderful elected officials are in bed with them. They are getting a piece of the action. Do they ever mention this to you when they are running for reelection? Of course not. They mention all the good things they have done for you.
And all we do is say baahh, baahh, baahh.
Wait until you see the new rating system they’ve cooked up for you? I think I’ll go into the paper business because all I’ve seen from recent legislation is additional paperwork which makes me fork over more of my green paper currency.
A story in today’s Boston Globe points out how it takes only a matter of weeks for an Insurance Company to determine that a driver was at fault in an auto accident, yet it will take that same driver twelve to eighteen months for the appeal process to be heard. In the meantime while these appealing drivers wait for a hearing they are forced to pay a surcharge which will be returned without interest if the driver wins the appeal.
Not a bad way to make some extra money for these sleazy Insurance Companies as if they need more money. They can invest your money to make additional money yet if you win your appeal they say thank you very much for the business. With roughly 60 percent of appellants winning their cases, which means close to 30,000 consumers a year are paying surcharges they shouldn't be paying. But as sheep we just follow the sleazy shepherd (Insurance Companies) to the slaughterhouse.
I wonder who’s sleeping with the shepherd. I wonder who’s benefiting from this inept form of appeal process. I wonder who gave us this wonderful system of surcharges. I would get better odds dealing with a loan shark, but lo and behold for them to do it is illegal but when the Insurance Companies do the same it’s lawful. Why?
Answer: Our wonderful elected officials are in bed with them. They are getting a piece of the action. Do they ever mention this to you when they are running for reelection? Of course not. They mention all the good things they have done for you.
And all we do is say baahh, baahh, baahh.
Wait until you see the new rating system they’ve cooked up for you? I think I’ll go into the paper business because all I’ve seen from recent legislation is additional paperwork which makes me fork over more of my green paper currency.
2.18.2006
Boston's War on Terror
We went to war because of the suspected weapons of mass destruction(WMDs) that our intelligent administration led us to believe, yet we sit idly back and let the real weapons of mass destruction take hostage of sections of Boston. Something is wrong with this picture. Something is wrong when children cannot even play in front of their houses never mind the playgrounds that have been turned into meeting areas for punks and scum.
There’s been a lot of finger pointing, at police, at local church leaders, at the mayor and justifiably so. But the answer does not lie solely with any individual. It lies with them all collectively working together to fumigate the vermin that are allowed to kill and injure and terrorize a section of Boston that will soon see many law abiding families leave out of fear.
Many of the victims are young men between the ages of sixteen and twenty five. Are they all innocent victims of hit and run shootings? Where are the parents? Don’t they have any idea of what their teenagers are up to? Have they lost the will to parent and love and discipline? It appears that everyone has given up. Nobody wants to talk. The police have few leads. If that’s the case, how is the madness ever going to stop? No cooperation is a road to escalation.
It’s going to take the cooperation of many that have to come together and work hard to put and end to blacks killing blacks. Addressing the root cause of the violence and tackling those issues, whether they are drugs, unemployment, or family issues, will help the area in reducing the senseless shootings. The community knows what the root causes are and should be working from within with the aid of external resources. They have a pretty good idea where the weapons of mass destruction are coming from.
There are people in other parts of the city who don’t care about what goes on as long as it’s not happening in their neighborhood. The comment you often hear is, “Well they’re killing themselves.”
Yes, they’re killing themselves, but just like a worm inside an apple they are slowly spreading out. Unless we cut the apple and get rid of the worm we will lose it entirely. There’s no use wasting billions in searching for WMDs in Iraq, tell Bush that they are here in Dorchester and Roxbury and Mattapan. The war on terror should be waged here to protect our own.
There’s been a lot of finger pointing, at police, at local church leaders, at the mayor and justifiably so. But the answer does not lie solely with any individual. It lies with them all collectively working together to fumigate the vermin that are allowed to kill and injure and terrorize a section of Boston that will soon see many law abiding families leave out of fear.
Many of the victims are young men between the ages of sixteen and twenty five. Are they all innocent victims of hit and run shootings? Where are the parents? Don’t they have any idea of what their teenagers are up to? Have they lost the will to parent and love and discipline? It appears that everyone has given up. Nobody wants to talk. The police have few leads. If that’s the case, how is the madness ever going to stop? No cooperation is a road to escalation.
It’s going to take the cooperation of many that have to come together and work hard to put and end to blacks killing blacks. Addressing the root cause of the violence and tackling those issues, whether they are drugs, unemployment, or family issues, will help the area in reducing the senseless shootings. The community knows what the root causes are and should be working from within with the aid of external resources. They have a pretty good idea where the weapons of mass destruction are coming from.
There are people in other parts of the city who don’t care about what goes on as long as it’s not happening in their neighborhood. The comment you often hear is, “Well they’re killing themselves.”
Yes, they’re killing themselves, but just like a worm inside an apple they are slowly spreading out. Unless we cut the apple and get rid of the worm we will lose it entirely. There’s no use wasting billions in searching for WMDs in Iraq, tell Bush that they are here in Dorchester and Roxbury and Mattapan. The war on terror should be waged here to protect our own.
2.16.2006
Homeland Security Flaws
Administration Admits Katrina Flaws, Moves to Retool Homeland Security
This was a sub headline in a Washington Post article on February 14, 2006. The current administration surprisingly has admitted to a mistake and plans to retool. What the hell do they mean by retool? They shouldn’t waste any more of the taxpayer’s money and instead of retooling they should retire this worthless agency.
Retool, re-engineer are words being used to try to make this square pegged agency fit into a round shaped mold. President Bush’s security advisor will soon make more than 100 recommendations to improve disaster response. How much safer are we today compared to four years ago? One hundred recommendations is not what I call a retool, it’s more like a complete overhaul. If Homeland Security was compared to a new car one could evoke the lemon law protection and get a replacement.
The same story has the following quote; "It was the president who acknowledged the response to Hurricane Katrina was insufficient, and it was the president who first sought the lessons learned," said Townsend, who, as head of the Homeland Security Council, is leading the review ordered by Bush.
What lessons has President Bush learned? He should have learned that Homeland Security is a waste of our money, but of course he won’t admit it so he will continue to poor good money to try and fix an inferior product – Department of Homeland Security.
In the meantime, the country will sit back and watch the middle class slowly shrink with many joining the ranks of the poor. The trail for the search for weapons of mass destruction has led us to this country. The weapons of mass destruction lie within the borders of this country and not with Saddam.
This was a sub headline in a Washington Post article on February 14, 2006. The current administration surprisingly has admitted to a mistake and plans to retool. What the hell do they mean by retool? They shouldn’t waste any more of the taxpayer’s money and instead of retooling they should retire this worthless agency.
Retool, re-engineer are words being used to try to make this square pegged agency fit into a round shaped mold. President Bush’s security advisor will soon make more than 100 recommendations to improve disaster response. How much safer are we today compared to four years ago? One hundred recommendations is not what I call a retool, it’s more like a complete overhaul. If Homeland Security was compared to a new car one could evoke the lemon law protection and get a replacement.
The same story has the following quote; "It was the president who acknowledged the response to Hurricane Katrina was insufficient, and it was the president who first sought the lessons learned," said Townsend, who, as head of the Homeland Security Council, is leading the review ordered by Bush.
What lessons has President Bush learned? He should have learned that Homeland Security is a waste of our money, but of course he won’t admit it so he will continue to poor good money to try and fix an inferior product – Department of Homeland Security.
In the meantime, the country will sit back and watch the middle class slowly shrink with many joining the ranks of the poor. The trail for the search for weapons of mass destruction has led us to this country. The weapons of mass destruction lie within the borders of this country and not with Saddam.
2.11.2006
Too Many Cooks Spoil The Broth
It sickens me to think of what is going to be revealed years down the road about the incompetence of this present administration led by George Bush. As much as I try to like him, things always seem to surface about the problems created by their slow reaction that makes me ask, how did this man become president?
Many say that he is a nice guy, one who would make a nice neighbor. Nice neighbors don’t necessarily make for good leaders. The fiasco over the lack of timely response during hurricane Katrina is appalling. A few people were given up as sacrificial lambs a while back to pacify the tirade of criticism heaped on the White House, but now as investigations unfold the finger of fate seems to continuously point at our president.
As hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast President Bush stayed on vacation at his Texas ranch, Vice President Dick Cheney was fly fishing in Wyoming, and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card was in Maine. Who was in charge?
The response from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA proved to be inept. As Katrina hit, FEMA Director, Michael Brown responded to FEMA field reports of a deadly situation being ''past critical," by continuing to eat dinner in a Baton Rouge restaurant and saying things like, ''Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do or tweak?" Days later he would be given a pat on the back by the president saying what a fine job he did. Uh?
Brown was eventually made the scapegoat but recently Brown testified before a Senate committee that he told both the White House and Homeland Security on the night of Aug. 29 that ''we were realizing our worst nightmare." Brown said he communicated the dire situation in an e-mail to Card. He said he believed he verbally gave the same message to deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, who was with the president at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
All of this is starting to bring back memories of an old TV quiz show called Who Do You Trust?
What I don’t understand is why did our president choose to add an additional layer to an already complex hierarchy of our country’s internal intelligence agency by creating the Department of Homeland Security? Can someone tell me what they have done other than come up with kindergarten level of security in establishing a color code that’s supposed to warn us of elevated terror risks? I thought Republicans were the ones to streamline government?
To me this new costly Department falls under the “Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth” syndrome. The aftermath of Katrina is what all these cooks served up to the unfortunate people of the Gulf Coast.
Now, to make Homeland Security look like it was the right decision, leaks are coming out revealing specific incidents where they acted to stave off a possible terrorist attack. I’ll put my money on it and I’ll bet that more of these stories will be floated out there in the very near future. This administration is good at damage control of their inflated egos instead of the physical damage control that’s sorely needed by the citizens of the Gulf Coast.
Look for damage control statements to start appearing to try to justify the very complex Senior Citizen drug program that went into effect this year. What ever happened to the theory of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) in its application to new government programs? They have made the program so complex that many are being unnecessarily harassed by not being able to get the drugs that they been taking. Why did the program have to be so complex? If I can’t figure it out without spending four hours of weeding through legalese, how is my mother suppose to figure it out?
It reminds me of some advice given to me years ago that said, “If you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit.”
The pile has gotten so high that I’ve gotten tired of shoveling.
God Bless America
Many say that he is a nice guy, one who would make a nice neighbor. Nice neighbors don’t necessarily make for good leaders. The fiasco over the lack of timely response during hurricane Katrina is appalling. A few people were given up as sacrificial lambs a while back to pacify the tirade of criticism heaped on the White House, but now as investigations unfold the finger of fate seems to continuously point at our president.
As hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast President Bush stayed on vacation at his Texas ranch, Vice President Dick Cheney was fly fishing in Wyoming, and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card was in Maine. Who was in charge?
The response from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA proved to be inept. As Katrina hit, FEMA Director, Michael Brown responded to FEMA field reports of a deadly situation being ''past critical," by continuing to eat dinner in a Baton Rouge restaurant and saying things like, ''Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do or tweak?" Days later he would be given a pat on the back by the president saying what a fine job he did. Uh?
Brown was eventually made the scapegoat but recently Brown testified before a Senate committee that he told both the White House and Homeland Security on the night of Aug. 29 that ''we were realizing our worst nightmare." Brown said he communicated the dire situation in an e-mail to Card. He said he believed he verbally gave the same message to deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, who was with the president at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
All of this is starting to bring back memories of an old TV quiz show called Who Do You Trust?
What I don’t understand is why did our president choose to add an additional layer to an already complex hierarchy of our country’s internal intelligence agency by creating the Department of Homeland Security? Can someone tell me what they have done other than come up with kindergarten level of security in establishing a color code that’s supposed to warn us of elevated terror risks? I thought Republicans were the ones to streamline government?
To me this new costly Department falls under the “Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth” syndrome. The aftermath of Katrina is what all these cooks served up to the unfortunate people of the Gulf Coast.
Now, to make Homeland Security look like it was the right decision, leaks are coming out revealing specific incidents where they acted to stave off a possible terrorist attack. I’ll put my money on it and I’ll bet that more of these stories will be floated out there in the very near future. This administration is good at damage control of their inflated egos instead of the physical damage control that’s sorely needed by the citizens of the Gulf Coast.
Look for damage control statements to start appearing to try to justify the very complex Senior Citizen drug program that went into effect this year. What ever happened to the theory of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) in its application to new government programs? They have made the program so complex that many are being unnecessarily harassed by not being able to get the drugs that they been taking. Why did the program have to be so complex? If I can’t figure it out without spending four hours of weeding through legalese, how is my mother suppose to figure it out?
It reminds me of some advice given to me years ago that said, “If you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit.”
The pile has gotten so high that I’ve gotten tired of shoveling.
God Bless America
2.08.2006
What's Going On?
Years ago Marvin Gaye had a hit song called “What’s Going On?” Today that question should be heard loud and clear and should be asked by the majority of the poor and working class in this country. It seems that people are too busy trying to make ends meet to even stop and question, What’s Going On?
You don’t even have to read the newspaper, just scan the headlines and see if you don’t stop in your tracks and ask, What’s Going On?
We’ve become, unfortunately, a nation of sheep that is being led to wherever our money hungry leaders want to take us. Many think that our leaders are great and are keeping us safe, but in essence they are just waiting for the right time to take us to the slaughterhouse.
I’ve seen everything and I mean everything I use and purchase go up during the past three months. Thank God that it has been a mild winter so far, or I would shudder to think how costlier it would have been to heat my house – as it is my heating bill has doubled in December and January. Doesn’t anyone ask What’s Going On when our oil companies declared record profits last quarter? The only reason I can think of why only a few raised a voice was that maybe many who were silent were recipients of this good fortune – the investors.
I said to myself, What’s Going On, when I read in yesterday’s paper that this country has seen such a steady rise in sleeping pills that it is now reaching epidemic proportions. Don’t you want to ask, What’s Going On when you read stuff like this? Why are people becoming so dependent on sleeping pills? Has something changed in the atmosphere or water or food to create such a large number of insomniacs?
My gut feeling is MONEY. Drug companies profit. Doctors have become paid pill pushers. I’ve witnessed too many times the arrival of pharmaceutical salesmen in a doctor’s office. He comes bearing gifts in hopes of getting the doctor to prescribe some costlier and probably dangerous and less effective drug. This is basically a drug transaction. Is it legal? Yes. Is it ethical? You be the judge. If you say yes, I’ll wager my monthly stipend on guessing that you are a beneficiary of drug company profits. You are an investor.
It’s interesting to see these transactions occurring right before your eyes. Yesterday I had to wait ten minutes while the receptionist at my primary care physician’s office serviced and waited on these slick shysters before I could sort of check out. You watch and be on the lookout for them the next time you're in a doctor's waiting room. They come in impeccably dressed carrying a combination of briefcases and bags that generally have a bunch of medicinal samples that will be dropped off. They know the receptionist on a first name basis and finagle themselves in to do their dirty work. I’ve gotten so annoyed with them that they rank below used car salesmen on my list of least favorite professions.
Be careful what you tell your doctor next time you visit him because they are always ready and willing to prescribe another drug that will take care of what ails you. I recently drove an elderly lady to her doctor. When I went to pick her up she was lamenting that her blood pressure was elevated and said that her doctor had given her a fourth prescription for blood pressure medication. I wondered why the woman didn’t question her doctor. She should have said, “What’s Going On”, you have me taking three different medications for high blood pressure and they haven’t worked and now you are adding a fourth. I truly think that the doctor was the cause of this woman’s pressure to rise.
Another area where we have become like sheep is in following the results of all these studies. It seems like every week a result of a study is published that contradicts the original findings. What’s Going On?
Just today, I read that a major study has found, low fat diets do not protect women against heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer or colon cancer, contradicting what had once been promoted as one of the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle. What’s Going On?
The first thing I’d like to know is who volunteers for these studies? They are people who need MONEY.
MONEY is the driving force behind everything. Beware when a supermarket advertises a buy one get one free sale. Are you really getting one free or have they jacked up the price of the item to where you are not getting any bargain. What’s Going On?
When you drive down the street and see four utility workers around a job site and only one working, do you ask What’s Going On or do you just drive away without ever giving the wasteful spending a thought. Maybe you don’t say anything because your brother-in-law was one of the three hanging around.
I’m afraid many people in this country have been beaten to the point of not having the strength nor the will to fight for what's right.
We are passing all our problems to the next generation. We had the GREATEST generation that came through the Second World War and got us back on our feet and now we have the BEATEN generation that’s wiping all of that away.
What’s Going On?
You don’t even have to read the newspaper, just scan the headlines and see if you don’t stop in your tracks and ask, What’s Going On?
We’ve become, unfortunately, a nation of sheep that is being led to wherever our money hungry leaders want to take us. Many think that our leaders are great and are keeping us safe, but in essence they are just waiting for the right time to take us to the slaughterhouse.
I’ve seen everything and I mean everything I use and purchase go up during the past three months. Thank God that it has been a mild winter so far, or I would shudder to think how costlier it would have been to heat my house – as it is my heating bill has doubled in December and January. Doesn’t anyone ask What’s Going On when our oil companies declared record profits last quarter? The only reason I can think of why only a few raised a voice was that maybe many who were silent were recipients of this good fortune – the investors.
I said to myself, What’s Going On, when I read in yesterday’s paper that this country has seen such a steady rise in sleeping pills that it is now reaching epidemic proportions. Don’t you want to ask, What’s Going On when you read stuff like this? Why are people becoming so dependent on sleeping pills? Has something changed in the atmosphere or water or food to create such a large number of insomniacs?
My gut feeling is MONEY. Drug companies profit. Doctors have become paid pill pushers. I’ve witnessed too many times the arrival of pharmaceutical salesmen in a doctor’s office. He comes bearing gifts in hopes of getting the doctor to prescribe some costlier and probably dangerous and less effective drug. This is basically a drug transaction. Is it legal? Yes. Is it ethical? You be the judge. If you say yes, I’ll wager my monthly stipend on guessing that you are a beneficiary of drug company profits. You are an investor.
It’s interesting to see these transactions occurring right before your eyes. Yesterday I had to wait ten minutes while the receptionist at my primary care physician’s office serviced and waited on these slick shysters before I could sort of check out. You watch and be on the lookout for them the next time you're in a doctor's waiting room. They come in impeccably dressed carrying a combination of briefcases and bags that generally have a bunch of medicinal samples that will be dropped off. They know the receptionist on a first name basis and finagle themselves in to do their dirty work. I’ve gotten so annoyed with them that they rank below used car salesmen on my list of least favorite professions.
Be careful what you tell your doctor next time you visit him because they are always ready and willing to prescribe another drug that will take care of what ails you. I recently drove an elderly lady to her doctor. When I went to pick her up she was lamenting that her blood pressure was elevated and said that her doctor had given her a fourth prescription for blood pressure medication. I wondered why the woman didn’t question her doctor. She should have said, “What’s Going On”, you have me taking three different medications for high blood pressure and they haven’t worked and now you are adding a fourth. I truly think that the doctor was the cause of this woman’s pressure to rise.
Another area where we have become like sheep is in following the results of all these studies. It seems like every week a result of a study is published that contradicts the original findings. What’s Going On?
Just today, I read that a major study has found, low fat diets do not protect women against heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer or colon cancer, contradicting what had once been promoted as one of the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle. What’s Going On?
The first thing I’d like to know is who volunteers for these studies? They are people who need MONEY.
MONEY is the driving force behind everything. Beware when a supermarket advertises a buy one get one free sale. Are you really getting one free or have they jacked up the price of the item to where you are not getting any bargain. What’s Going On?
When you drive down the street and see four utility workers around a job site and only one working, do you ask What’s Going On or do you just drive away without ever giving the wasteful spending a thought. Maybe you don’t say anything because your brother-in-law was one of the three hanging around.
I’m afraid many people in this country have been beaten to the point of not having the strength nor the will to fight for what's right.
We are passing all our problems to the next generation. We had the GREATEST generation that came through the Second World War and got us back on our feet and now we have the BEATEN generation that’s wiping all of that away.
What’s Going On?
2.06.2006
Hatred Over Cartoon
Please help me to understand why after attending their Friday day of prayers, Muslims seem to always come out bitter and angry about something. What do their religious leaders teach them? It seems that their religion is one based on hatred and violence. Is that what the Prophet Muhammad taught when he was alive? I know that MAD is part of the spelling of Muhammad, but I’d venture to say, knowing very little about the Muslim religion, that’s not what he, neither preached nor stood for.
So why is it that after attending their Friday services they come out like raging animals? Recent publications of slanderous cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad have ignited a series of destructive attacks on Danish and Norwegian embassies in Syria and Lebanon. They not only destroyed buildings in their homelands but also put thousands of their police and security people at risk. When I attend my weekly religious service, I leave with the message that says love your fellow man and turn the other cheek. I don't come out ready to kill and destroy my so called enemy.
Many Catholics get offended whenever someone makes a mockery out of Jesus and his teachings, but rarely do they become barbaric. There are various means and ways to protest peacefully and get a point across. Violence and rage never resolves anything other than create additional violence and rage. Just this weekend in Turkey an Italian priest Father Andrea Santoro was shot ad killed while praying in his church by a teenager. Here was a religious man who had been in Turkey for five years and had built up a great dialogue between Muslims and Catholics shot in cold blood. How should Westerners respond to the murder of an innocent person?
If Muslims have such a built in and pent up hatred for westerners and act this way over some political cartoons how can we trust a Muslim country such as Iran to continue their process into developing nuclear weapons? They haven’t demonstrated any responsibility at showing any restrains. They haven’t demonstrated that they are a people who will sit down at table and negotiate differences. Many of their religious leaders, especially the younger ones, seem to bask in the limelight of violence.
The radical Islamists have become a grave danger to the world. It’s excruciating to see innocent lives shed by our men and women in hopes of freeing the innocent victims of repression in Iraq. At times I wish that President Bush had never committed our men and women to the senseless war on terror, but I now see that it’s not the right time to leave.
The solution to the problem cannot be solved solely from outside sources – it needs the resolve of the people within. If they are not willing to stand up and fight for what they want, they will always be trampled on by the radicals.
These radicals have the potential for the next and last war. It was written somewhere that civilization started in the Middle East and will end there also. Are we living this prophecy?
So why is it that after attending their Friday services they come out like raging animals? Recent publications of slanderous cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad have ignited a series of destructive attacks on Danish and Norwegian embassies in Syria and Lebanon. They not only destroyed buildings in their homelands but also put thousands of their police and security people at risk. When I attend my weekly religious service, I leave with the message that says love your fellow man and turn the other cheek. I don't come out ready to kill and destroy my so called enemy.
Many Catholics get offended whenever someone makes a mockery out of Jesus and his teachings, but rarely do they become barbaric. There are various means and ways to protest peacefully and get a point across. Violence and rage never resolves anything other than create additional violence and rage. Just this weekend in Turkey an Italian priest Father Andrea Santoro was shot ad killed while praying in his church by a teenager. Here was a religious man who had been in Turkey for five years and had built up a great dialogue between Muslims and Catholics shot in cold blood. How should Westerners respond to the murder of an innocent person?
If Muslims have such a built in and pent up hatred for westerners and act this way over some political cartoons how can we trust a Muslim country such as Iran to continue their process into developing nuclear weapons? They haven’t demonstrated any responsibility at showing any restrains. They haven’t demonstrated that they are a people who will sit down at table and negotiate differences. Many of their religious leaders, especially the younger ones, seem to bask in the limelight of violence.
The radical Islamists have become a grave danger to the world. It’s excruciating to see innocent lives shed by our men and women in hopes of freeing the innocent victims of repression in Iraq. At times I wish that President Bush had never committed our men and women to the senseless war on terror, but I now see that it’s not the right time to leave.
The solution to the problem cannot be solved solely from outside sources – it needs the resolve of the people within. If they are not willing to stand up and fight for what they want, they will always be trampled on by the radicals.
These radicals have the potential for the next and last war. It was written somewhere that civilization started in the Middle East and will end there also. Are we living this prophecy?
2.04.2006
Storing Treasures
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)
This balance sheet was given to us a few thousand years ago and it will never be replaced.
Notice it doesn’t say that the one at the end with all the toys wins. It doesn’t say that the one holding all the chips at the end is a winner
It says that earthly treasures are worthless. It says that you have to be constantly on the watch to make sure they’re not stolen or lost or destroyed. Some spend a lifetime gathering and accumulating all these earthly treasures to find that it doesn’t even buy a standing room seat in heaven.
There are no scalpers outside those pearly gates where one can purchase a ticket to get in. You see, you have to earn your way in by doing good deeds. A good deed can never be destroyed or stolen. A good deed in turn begets another and another.
Take inventory of your life and see where your treasures are currently stored. If you haven’t thought about storing treasures in heaven, maybe you should stop and reconsider your priorities – it’s later than you think.
This balance sheet was given to us a few thousand years ago and it will never be replaced.
Notice it doesn’t say that the one at the end with all the toys wins. It doesn’t say that the one holding all the chips at the end is a winner
It says that earthly treasures are worthless. It says that you have to be constantly on the watch to make sure they’re not stolen or lost or destroyed. Some spend a lifetime gathering and accumulating all these earthly treasures to find that it doesn’t even buy a standing room seat in heaven.
There are no scalpers outside those pearly gates where one can purchase a ticket to get in. You see, you have to earn your way in by doing good deeds. A good deed can never be destroyed or stolen. A good deed in turn begets another and another.
Take inventory of your life and see where your treasures are currently stored. If you haven’t thought about storing treasures in heaven, maybe you should stop and reconsider your priorities – it’s later than you think.
2.03.2006
The day the music died
On this day in 1959 was what Don Mclean labeled as “the day the music died,” from his hit song American Pie. It was the day that Rock and Roll legends, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.P. Richardson died aboard their Beechcraft Bonanza airplane, named “Miss American Pie, “ when it crashed in a corn field near Mason City, Iowa, minutes after takeoff.
Their short lifespan (Buddy Holly, 23 and Richie Valens, 18) gives credence to the lyrics, “the good they die young.” The impact they made at such a young age is still feeling the rippling affects today.
Holly and his band The Crickets, recorded such classics as That’ll Be the Day, Peggy Sue and Maybe Baby.
The Beatles chose their name in tribute to the Crickets.
Legendary Bob Dylan said, "I just carry that other time around with me... The music of the late Fifties and early Sixties when music was at that root level--that for me is meaningful music. The singers and musicians I grew up with transcend nostalgia--Buddy Holly and Johnny Ace are just as valid to me today as then."
In addition to the Beatles and Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly also had an influence on The Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello and Linda Ronstadt.
2.02.2006
Want to get away?
“Dow you want to get away?”
These words have been repeated over and over ad nausea over the last few months as part of an airline commercial.
Yesterday these words might have been resonating loud and clear with both Thomas Reilly and Diane St. Fleur. I imagine that if they had the opportunity they would probably like to be getting on a plane and getting away from the scrutiny that one gets anytime you throw your proverbial hat into a political race.
Mr. Reilly must have been too busy thinking of the coup he just pulled off by killing two birds with one stone by selecting not only a woman but a woman of color to be his running mate for Lieutenant Governor. I ask you Mr. Reilly, “Do you want to get away?”
You were so blinded by your choice that you never heard the warning that Diane St. Fleur had some financial issues. The damage has been done even though Ms. St. Fleur has pulled herself out of the race. How does one rebound from such a poor decision?
Your campaign manager equates this to falling into a large pothole and that you’ll be ok, but I think you have fallen into a sink hole and will not come out.
“Do you want to get away?”
These words have been repeated over and over ad nausea over the last few months as part of an airline commercial.
Yesterday these words might have been resonating loud and clear with both Thomas Reilly and Diane St. Fleur. I imagine that if they had the opportunity they would probably like to be getting on a plane and getting away from the scrutiny that one gets anytime you throw your proverbial hat into a political race.
Mr. Reilly must have been too busy thinking of the coup he just pulled off by killing two birds with one stone by selecting not only a woman but a woman of color to be his running mate for Lieutenant Governor. I ask you Mr. Reilly, “Do you want to get away?”
You were so blinded by your choice that you never heard the warning that Diane St. Fleur had some financial issues. The damage has been done even though Ms. St. Fleur has pulled herself out of the race. How does one rebound from such a poor decision?
Your campaign manager equates this to falling into a large pothole and that you’ll be ok, but I think you have fallen into a sink hole and will not come out.
“Do you want to get away?”
The Plight of the Union
"He's in his last term. He's got this great opportunity to do something bold about something that's really important." "And look what we get. . . . What the heck has he got to lose?"
These quotes come from Regina Herzlinger, a professor at the Harvard Business School who did some of the early work on consumer-driven health care, which is at the heart of the health care initiative the president barely mentioned last night.
Hasn’t anyone told him that one quarter of America’s working people is without health care insurance?
What kind of a legacy is Bush going to leave behind?
He’ll be remembered for the narrow minded decision that got us into a so called war against terrorism based on shaky intelligence that Saddam Hussein had his infamous WMDs, weapons of mass destruction, recently called weapons of mass murder in the 2006 State of the Union speech.
He’ll be remembered for not listening to a wider scope of thoughts and ideas prior to making a final decision to invest the lives of thousands of young men and women in a war that was poorly planned.
He’ll be remembered for record deficit spending and for expanding the nation’s debt to new record levels. Our children and grandchildren will be left to pay the bill.
He’ll be remembered for being the President who established the Department of Homeland Security or whatever title it’s known by now; an additional layer of government that’s fraught with wasting taxpayer’s money.
He’ll be remembered as the President who placed more importance on the plight of citizens from a foreign country (Iraq) than his own people from the Gulf Coast states who were devastated by national disaster.
He’ll be remembered for fattening the coffers of the rich by cutting taxes at the expense of slashing aid for the poor and students.
I don’t care to hide behind a label of Independent, Republican or Democrat. It doesn’t matter what you are what should matter is providing the best for all people in our great nation.
You still have time to reshape your legacy. Speak honestly to your citizens and provide the leadership that they sorely need.
These quotes come from Regina Herzlinger, a professor at the Harvard Business School who did some of the early work on consumer-driven health care, which is at the heart of the health care initiative the president barely mentioned last night.
Hasn’t anyone told him that one quarter of America’s working people is without health care insurance?
What kind of a legacy is Bush going to leave behind?
He’ll be remembered for the narrow minded decision that got us into a so called war against terrorism based on shaky intelligence that Saddam Hussein had his infamous WMDs, weapons of mass destruction, recently called weapons of mass murder in the 2006 State of the Union speech.
He’ll be remembered for not listening to a wider scope of thoughts and ideas prior to making a final decision to invest the lives of thousands of young men and women in a war that was poorly planned.
He’ll be remembered for record deficit spending and for expanding the nation’s debt to new record levels. Our children and grandchildren will be left to pay the bill.
He’ll be remembered for being the President who established the Department of Homeland Security or whatever title it’s known by now; an additional layer of government that’s fraught with wasting taxpayer’s money.
He’ll be remembered as the President who placed more importance on the plight of citizens from a foreign country (Iraq) than his own people from the Gulf Coast states who were devastated by national disaster.
He’ll be remembered for fattening the coffers of the rich by cutting taxes at the expense of slashing aid for the poor and students.
I don’t care to hide behind a label of Independent, Republican or Democrat. It doesn’t matter what you are what should matter is providing the best for all people in our great nation.
You still have time to reshape your legacy. Speak honestly to your citizens and provide the leadership that they sorely need.
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