I used to counsel incarcerated veterans. Many of them told me that it was easier for them to kick heroin than nicotine.
Nicotine is an addictive drug. That is not my opinion, it is a fact.
Have you ever seen the photos of "meth mouth?" People who smoke meth have terrible dental and medical conditions. Here are some links that show the results of meth:
http://www.mappsd.org/Meth%20Mouth%20Photo%20Gallery.htm
http://www.mappsd.org/Progression.htm
http://www.mappsd.org/Faces%20of%20Meth-%20Static.htm
Similarly, people who smoke tobacco put themselves at risk of many medical conditions, about 13 of which can lead to death.
The government needs to do anything and everything to try to deter drug use, including nicotine, or at least try to control it. By legalizing some of the recreational drugs and have them dispensed through pharmacies, there would be more purity and less adulteration. A safer product if you will.
However, it does boil down to choice. People should have the freedom of choice to use drugs, and they should know the risks. “If you use this, it might cause addiction, and you could die from it.” That would be only a fair warning.
Cocaine in the United States is a very big problem. What costs $2,000 in Peru, costs $40,000 in Mexico, and $100,000 on the streets of cities in the U.S. By making it illegal, the U.S. is tacitly approving mob activity and murder.
By making recreational drugs legal, dispensed by prescription, and available through pharmacies, it would remove most if not all of the criminal activity.
The "War On Drugs" has been ongoing for 40 years, and the U.S. government still is not coming any where close to winning. It is well past the time to reconsider a more positive course of action. You cannot keep doing the same old thing, year after year, and expect different or better results… !!
Consider booze during prohibition, and how present day criminals profit by drugs being illegal. By making booze legal and regulating how it is made and distributed, it essentially removed organized crime from that activity. Similarly, making drugs legal would do the same thing, by removing the “middle men.”
If people want to smoke high octane, rarified and strengulated moldy goat manure, they should have the right to do so. I have the right not to participate.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
PRAYING FOR RAIN ON JULY 4TH
I always know when it is getting close to July 4TH; and that is without looking at a calendar.
I can tell by the noise and the smell. In my neighborhood and surrounding community area, New Year’s Eve and July 4TH sound like a war zone, and there is an almost nauseating stench from the smoke of the fireworks.
I live in the state of Washington, where many fireworks are illegal. Things that explode, or go up into the air and explode, are illegal. Indeed, many cities have banned all fireworks, including the so–called “Safe & Sane” fireworks.
As a former firefighter, I realize there is no such thing as safe & sane fireworks.
For instance, consider how hot a cake pan is at 350 degrees, and that glass melts at about 900 degrees. The average “sparkler” burns at about 1,200 degrees, around the same temperature as a welding torch. A lit sparkler, or the hot wire of a burned sparkler, can be the cause of burns to the young and elderly.
Across the United States, each year all sorts of fireworks are the cause of many people getting injured or burned, not to mention the “accidental fires” that cause damage to grasslands, forests, businesses and homes.
According to the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), “In 2009, fireworks caused an estimated 18,000 reported fires, including 1,300 total structure fires, 400 vehicle fires, and 16,300 outside and other fires. These fires resulted in no reported civilian deaths, 30 civilian injuries and $38 million in direct property damage. In 2009, U.S. hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated 8,800 people for fireworks related injuries; 53% of 2009 emergency room fireworks-related injuries were to the extremities and 42% were to the head.”
This translates to: There is no cure for STUPID.
Please feel free to check out this report: http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=297&cookie%5Ftest=1
So, why is it that last year, on July 5TH, I found seven spent bottle rockets in my yard, including three on the roof of my house?
The only reason is the proximity of the nearest Tribal Lands – about two miles in the distance, where every conceivable firework known to humankind is available for sale.
There are about 32 Tribes in the state of Washington, and many of them sell fireworks. There is a website devoted to Tribal fireworks.
In case you are pining for the sounds I have been hearing every night for the past month, here ya go: http://www.indianfireworks.us/
Of course, some of the Tribes operate casinos. Once a year, they doll out some donations to agencies in the local community. Therefore, no one dares to criticize the Tribes for their fireworks sales. Each year, the Tribes must harvest MILLIONS from fireworks sales. Regardless of the County, one would never see the local police, the County Sheriff, or the State Patrol with roadblocks set up to seize illegal fireworks.
The Tribes operate with impunity, because they are a Nation within a nation. They can just about do whatever they please, and everyone else nearby just has to deal with it.
That is why I hope it rains on July 4TH – not because I am unpatriotic. I am very patriotic, but I am tired of flinching from the quarter and half sticks of dynamite, and all the racket from bottle rockets, the smoke, and the debris left in the streets.
There ought to be a law.
I can tell by the noise and the smell. In my neighborhood and surrounding community area, New Year’s Eve and July 4TH sound like a war zone, and there is an almost nauseating stench from the smoke of the fireworks.
I live in the state of Washington, where many fireworks are illegal. Things that explode, or go up into the air and explode, are illegal. Indeed, many cities have banned all fireworks, including the so–called “Safe & Sane” fireworks.
As a former firefighter, I realize there is no such thing as safe & sane fireworks.
For instance, consider how hot a cake pan is at 350 degrees, and that glass melts at about 900 degrees. The average “sparkler” burns at about 1,200 degrees, around the same temperature as a welding torch. A lit sparkler, or the hot wire of a burned sparkler, can be the cause of burns to the young and elderly.
Across the United States, each year all sorts of fireworks are the cause of many people getting injured or burned, not to mention the “accidental fires” that cause damage to grasslands, forests, businesses and homes.
According to the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), “In 2009, fireworks caused an estimated 18,000 reported fires, including 1,300 total structure fires, 400 vehicle fires, and 16,300 outside and other fires. These fires resulted in no reported civilian deaths, 30 civilian injuries and $38 million in direct property damage. In 2009, U.S. hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated 8,800 people for fireworks related injuries; 53% of 2009 emergency room fireworks-related injuries were to the extremities and 42% were to the head.”
This translates to: There is no cure for STUPID.
Please feel free to check out this report: http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=297&cookie%5Ftest=1
So, why is it that last year, on July 5TH, I found seven spent bottle rockets in my yard, including three on the roof of my house?
The only reason is the proximity of the nearest Tribal Lands – about two miles in the distance, where every conceivable firework known to humankind is available for sale.
There are about 32 Tribes in the state of Washington, and many of them sell fireworks. There is a website devoted to Tribal fireworks.
In case you are pining for the sounds I have been hearing every night for the past month, here ya go: http://www.indianfireworks.us/
Of course, some of the Tribes operate casinos. Once a year, they doll out some donations to agencies in the local community. Therefore, no one dares to criticize the Tribes for their fireworks sales. Each year, the Tribes must harvest MILLIONS from fireworks sales. Regardless of the County, one would never see the local police, the County Sheriff, or the State Patrol with roadblocks set up to seize illegal fireworks.
The Tribes operate with impunity, because they are a Nation within a nation. They can just about do whatever they please, and everyone else nearby just has to deal with it.
That is why I hope it rains on July 4TH – not because I am unpatriotic. I am very patriotic, but I am tired of flinching from the quarter and half sticks of dynamite, and all the racket from bottle rockets, the smoke, and the debris left in the streets.
There ought to be a law.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
MY FATHER THE BULLY
I think I was about age five when I received the first beating from my father. I no longer remember what offense I might have committed to warrant such a savage attack.
He ripped off his belt; and, proceeded to thrash at me with the edge of his belt. It was an uncontrolled outburst of anger, until he ran out of steam. I had painful black and blue marks on my arms, legs, back and stomach.
I remember that all of his beatings hurt. Not only from the device he used to beat me, but by the mental hurt as well. How could a father do something like that to his son?
Maybe it was work related. If he had a bad day at work, he would look for ways to take it out on somebody else, somebody who was smaller and unable to defend himself against such an attack.
Maybe he had trouble dealing with the death of my younger sister. She died when I was three. Back in 1945, there was no grief therapy. People expressed their sorrow at such an event, and life continued.
My younger brother arrived in 1947. I could tell that our father favored my younger brother. However, even though my younger brother was “the favored one,” by the time he was three or four, he too experienced abuse. It started out as spanking, but gradually escalated to beatings. There is a distinct difference between a spanking and a beating.
Even at an early age, maybe when I was eight or ten, I knew that it was wrong for our father to administer a beating to my younger brother. If something like that happened, I would make faces and noises to draw our father’s attention toward me. That would result in him coming after me. I stepped in to take a beating for my brother countless times, and that is something forgotten by my brother. He has no recall of that ever happening.
Over the years, the belt gained a few assistants. Our father developed a range of items to inflict punishment. A rubber hose, an oversized ping–pong paddle (with holes cut into it, to make it work better as a hitting device), a three foot section of washing machine hot water hose (heavier than the cold water hose), a three foot long dried apricot twig (with the nubbers). That apricot twig was something else. It would leave welts that would hurt for days.
I now believe that our mother lived in fear of our father’s anger. She seldom did anything to intervene, probably in fear of what he would do to her. She was not the innocent bystander. If my brother and I misbehaved in any way, she would report our activity to our father. Thanks to her snitching, my brother and I had many more beatings.
However, during one particular beating, our father “lost it” when beating me. I think our mother thought he might kill me. So she grabbed the cast iron skillet and whanged him on the head with it. That frying pan rang like a church bell, and it stopped him. He suddenly stopped beating me, looked at everyone, and went into the living room to sit in a chair. It was as if he had been brought back into the present from another dimension.
My brother, who is five years younger than me, and I learned the hiding spot for our father’s instruments of torture. One by one, his items would disappear. As soon as he would replace a missing item, it would disappear if he used it. Soon, the only item remaining was his belt.
When I was in high school, I was envious of Alan, Jerry, Ralph, Joe, Don and Bruce, because they had fathers who did not beat them. At least they did not show purple welts when they took showers. I had many PE class excuses, mostly for the purpose of not taking a shower, where others would be able to see my black and blue marks. Believe me, it was very embarrassing to have to take a shower with purple bruise marks all over my legs stomach, and back.
My last beating took place when I was 18, a few months before graduation from high school. It was another unprovoked savage attack on my brother and me.
That is when I realized my father was a person, and a mean, cruel, bully. Later that evening, I approached my father and mentioned that I needed to let him know something. I told him that if he ever laid another hand on me or my brother, that I would kill him. “I will wait until you are asleep. Then, I will take a butcher knife and slit your throat.” Somehow, I got the idea that he knew that I was serious. There were no more breathings.
Within a few months, our parents divorced and our father moved out of the house to go live with another woman, who he later married. During the divorce proceedings, the judge asked my brother and me about our father beating us. Under oath, we told the truth.
Due to that testimony, our father believed we told lies about him in court, and made the choice to estrange himself from us. Apparently, he was in denial about his behavior, and actually thought or believed that he had never beaten us. He died at the age of 83, and by his choice without ever knowing his only grandchildren.
All of this was a learning experience for me. I learned how not to treat children.
I made a vow before God. If I ever got married and my wife and I had children, I would never beat them. I maintained that vow. We have a daughter and a son. Both grew up without beatings, and both are very good, responsible people today. (Yes, I did yell at them every now and then, but I never spanked them or beat them.)
Father's Day is always a day of mixed emothions for me. Mostly I am thankful that I was able to break the generational chain of violence from father to son.
Even though my father was a mean and cruel bully, he taught me how to be a better parent, by not emulating his behaviors, and for that I am very thankful.
He ripped off his belt; and, proceeded to thrash at me with the edge of his belt. It was an uncontrolled outburst of anger, until he ran out of steam. I had painful black and blue marks on my arms, legs, back and stomach.
I remember that all of his beatings hurt. Not only from the device he used to beat me, but by the mental hurt as well. How could a father do something like that to his son?
Maybe it was work related. If he had a bad day at work, he would look for ways to take it out on somebody else, somebody who was smaller and unable to defend himself against such an attack.
Maybe he had trouble dealing with the death of my younger sister. She died when I was three. Back in 1945, there was no grief therapy. People expressed their sorrow at such an event, and life continued.
My younger brother arrived in 1947. I could tell that our father favored my younger brother. However, even though my younger brother was “the favored one,” by the time he was three or four, he too experienced abuse. It started out as spanking, but gradually escalated to beatings. There is a distinct difference between a spanking and a beating.
Even at an early age, maybe when I was eight or ten, I knew that it was wrong for our father to administer a beating to my younger brother. If something like that happened, I would make faces and noises to draw our father’s attention toward me. That would result in him coming after me. I stepped in to take a beating for my brother countless times, and that is something forgotten by my brother. He has no recall of that ever happening.
Over the years, the belt gained a few assistants. Our father developed a range of items to inflict punishment. A rubber hose, an oversized ping–pong paddle (with holes cut into it, to make it work better as a hitting device), a three foot section of washing machine hot water hose (heavier than the cold water hose), a three foot long dried apricot twig (with the nubbers). That apricot twig was something else. It would leave welts that would hurt for days.
I now believe that our mother lived in fear of our father’s anger. She seldom did anything to intervene, probably in fear of what he would do to her. She was not the innocent bystander. If my brother and I misbehaved in any way, she would report our activity to our father. Thanks to her snitching, my brother and I had many more beatings.
However, during one particular beating, our father “lost it” when beating me. I think our mother thought he might kill me. So she grabbed the cast iron skillet and whanged him on the head with it. That frying pan rang like a church bell, and it stopped him. He suddenly stopped beating me, looked at everyone, and went into the living room to sit in a chair. It was as if he had been brought back into the present from another dimension.
My brother, who is five years younger than me, and I learned the hiding spot for our father’s instruments of torture. One by one, his items would disappear. As soon as he would replace a missing item, it would disappear if he used it. Soon, the only item remaining was his belt.
When I was in high school, I was envious of Alan, Jerry, Ralph, Joe, Don and Bruce, because they had fathers who did not beat them. At least they did not show purple welts when they took showers. I had many PE class excuses, mostly for the purpose of not taking a shower, where others would be able to see my black and blue marks. Believe me, it was very embarrassing to have to take a shower with purple bruise marks all over my legs stomach, and back.
My last beating took place when I was 18, a few months before graduation from high school. It was another unprovoked savage attack on my brother and me.
That is when I realized my father was a person, and a mean, cruel, bully. Later that evening, I approached my father and mentioned that I needed to let him know something. I told him that if he ever laid another hand on me or my brother, that I would kill him. “I will wait until you are asleep. Then, I will take a butcher knife and slit your throat.” Somehow, I got the idea that he knew that I was serious. There were no more breathings.
Within a few months, our parents divorced and our father moved out of the house to go live with another woman, who he later married. During the divorce proceedings, the judge asked my brother and me about our father beating us. Under oath, we told the truth.
Due to that testimony, our father believed we told lies about him in court, and made the choice to estrange himself from us. Apparently, he was in denial about his behavior, and actually thought or believed that he had never beaten us. He died at the age of 83, and by his choice without ever knowing his only grandchildren.
All of this was a learning experience for me. I learned how not to treat children.
I made a vow before God. If I ever got married and my wife and I had children, I would never beat them. I maintained that vow. We have a daughter and a son. Both grew up without beatings, and both are very good, responsible people today. (Yes, I did yell at them every now and then, but I never spanked them or beat them.)
Father's Day is always a day of mixed emothions for me. Mostly I am thankful that I was able to break the generational chain of violence from father to son.
Even though my father was a mean and cruel bully, he taught me how to be a better parent, by not emulating his behaviors, and for that I am very thankful.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
JUST AN OLD FRAUD
Well, the rapture happened, and it looks like there is a big bunch of us left behind to await our misfortunes or commiserations.
However, the San Francisco Bay Area did have an AHAAA!, or GOTCHA! moment though, as a 3.4 magnitude earthquake rattled the area, about an hour after Harold Camping's predicted end time.
There were reports of some people giving away all their belongings... To the people who actually believed Harold Camping - What the fongonus is the matter with you?
He's a soon to be 90 year-old man, (July), who more than likely has been suffering with some form of Delusional Disorder since at least 1994!!
Mr. Camping needs to fold up his tent, sit down and shut the fongonus up.
For the rest of his life, he should not mutter any words other than thank you, please, amen, yes, or no, in response to any direct question.
His “ministry” needs to close down and retire, and that includes his involvement in radio broadcasts.
In effect, he has been yelling “FIRE” in a crowded theater. Had he actually done that, he would have been charged with a crime and prosecuted.
However, his end of times prediction about the rapture is just the same, only there is no prosecution. He should be in jail or prison the rest of his life, but that will not happen.
Despite what he thinks, Harold Camping is not a prophet. He is nothing more than an old fraud. He is evil, pure evil.
Even though I am a non-denominational, moderately religious person, more than one Bible thumper has told me that I will be going to hell, in a flaming chariot at that. In response to such thumping, I gently let them know that I would pay good money to be able to have that experience.
Anyone who has waded through the compendiums about the history of Scotland, should realize that King James, the famous Bible editor, had more than just a few kinks in his hose.
I somehow get the feeling that Harold Camping and King James would get along just fine.
However, the San Francisco Bay Area did have an AHAAA!, or GOTCHA! moment though, as a 3.4 magnitude earthquake rattled the area, about an hour after Harold Camping's predicted end time.
There were reports of some people giving away all their belongings... To the people who actually believed Harold Camping - What the fongonus is the matter with you?
He's a soon to be 90 year-old man, (July), who more than likely has been suffering with some form of Delusional Disorder since at least 1994!!
Mr. Camping needs to fold up his tent, sit down and shut the fongonus up.
For the rest of his life, he should not mutter any words other than thank you, please, amen, yes, or no, in response to any direct question.
His “ministry” needs to close down and retire, and that includes his involvement in radio broadcasts.
In effect, he has been yelling “FIRE” in a crowded theater. Had he actually done that, he would have been charged with a crime and prosecuted.
However, his end of times prediction about the rapture is just the same, only there is no prosecution. He should be in jail or prison the rest of his life, but that will not happen.
Despite what he thinks, Harold Camping is not a prophet. He is nothing more than an old fraud. He is evil, pure evil.
Even though I am a non-denominational, moderately religious person, more than one Bible thumper has told me that I will be going to hell, in a flaming chariot at that. In response to such thumping, I gently let them know that I would pay good money to be able to have that experience.
Anyone who has waded through the compendiums about the history of Scotland, should realize that King James, the famous Bible editor, had more than just a few kinks in his hose.
I somehow get the feeling that Harold Camping and King James would get along just fine.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Dr. Stephen Hawking: "There is no heaven."
News item – Stephen Hawking, the celebrated theoretical physicist announced that there is no heaven… That is Professor S W Hawking CH CBE FRS, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0WA. United Kingdom.
Well, I could not resist sending him an email to ask about ghosts. “Professor Hawking, Have you ever seen or heard a ghost? I realize it is impossible for me to convince anyone they exist. However, once someone sees or hears one, that experience changes things. Over the past 35 years, I have seen and heard several ghosts. I am convinced it was not my imagination.”
Within short order, I received an automatic reply: “Thank you for your email to Professor Hawking. As you can imagine, Prof. Hawking receives many such every day. He very much regrets that due to the severe limitations he works under, and the enormous number of requests he receives, he is unable to compose a reply to every message, and we do not have the resources to deal with many of the specific scientific enquiries and theories we receive.Please see the website http://www.hawking.org.uk for more information about Professor Hawking, his life and his work. Yours faithfully Sam Blackburn Technical Assistant toProfessor S W Hawking CH CBE FRS”
Needless to say, the comments by Dr. Hawking have caused a bit of controversy.
Heaven could have a different meaning to different people. On a basic level, some believe the streets are paved with gold. Others refer to heaven as, “the other side.” Near death survivors have described “the tunnel, and the white light.” Researches have concluded that is caused by blood deprivation to the brain.
As of May 17, 2011, the estimated world population is 6,918,900,000, almost 7 Billion people. Of that number, I would guess that 5/8ths of the planet’s population (.625%) believe in some form of afterlife or reintarnation, I mean, reincarnation. That would be about 4,324,312,500 people.
Considering all of the types of civilization on our planet, from very primitive or tribal to very contemporary city living, many people believe in reincarnation. They celebrate their ancestors, and in some cases carry their remains or parts of the remains with them. It is mostly the westernized societies with the variety of religions, which put the kybosh on “life after life.”
When King James edited his version of the Bible, back in 1605, he was very conservative, and concerned about protecting his beliefs and prerogatives. However, there is one area where he might have dozed off a bit. Psalm 121:7, 8. “7. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”
Reincarnationists believe in going out and coming in. The Bible is saying the Lord will preserve thy soul; and, thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” What exactly does that mean? Is that a veiled reference to reincarnation, and how the Lord will protect one forever? Many people believe that to be true.
The fact that the earliest Bibles mention soul, means the possibility of ghosts.
Many years ago, I owned half interest in and managed a full liquor store and delicatessen. I had hired a sandwhich maker/deli attendant/cashier, and was explaining proper food handling procedure to her, with the help of two other workers.
She asked if we had a restroom. I said, “Yes, it’s upstairs. Go upstairs and down the hall, then turn left, and turn left again, and you will find it on your left. Be careful about showing your toosh, because we have ghosts in this building.” She looked at the three of us, and me like I was nuts. She said, “I do not believe in them. There is no such thing as ghosts.”
As soon as she said that, a ghost ran up the stairs and down the hall. All of us could hear the bump, bump bump, thump, thump thump, as whatever it was ran up the stairs and down the hall. I had goosebumps big enough to cut with a razor blade.
“I said, well, there you go! What was making that running noise?” Jennifer and Michelle laughed a nervous laugh. Both of them said, “You’ll get used to it.”
She did go upstairs and completed her detail, and thankfully, nothing more happened. Many years later, I still find it interesting that a ghost was standing there, listening to our conversation. With precise timing, the ghost sprang into action – in an attempt to convince a non–believer.
So, I wonder how Dr. Hawking would explain multiple experiences like that, where more than one person sees or hears the same thing?
Well, I could not resist sending him an email to ask about ghosts. “Professor Hawking, Have you ever seen or heard a ghost? I realize it is impossible for me to convince anyone they exist. However, once someone sees or hears one, that experience changes things. Over the past 35 years, I have seen and heard several ghosts. I am convinced it was not my imagination.”
Within short order, I received an automatic reply: “Thank you for your email to Professor Hawking. As you can imagine, Prof. Hawking receives many such every day. He very much regrets that due to the severe limitations he works under, and the enormous number of requests he receives, he is unable to compose a reply to every message, and we do not have the resources to deal with many of the specific scientific enquiries and theories we receive.Please see the website http://www.hawking.org.uk for more information about Professor Hawking, his life and his work. Yours faithfully Sam Blackburn Technical Assistant toProfessor S W Hawking CH CBE FRS”
Needless to say, the comments by Dr. Hawking have caused a bit of controversy.
Heaven could have a different meaning to different people. On a basic level, some believe the streets are paved with gold. Others refer to heaven as, “the other side.” Near death survivors have described “the tunnel, and the white light.” Researches have concluded that is caused by blood deprivation to the brain.
As of May 17, 2011, the estimated world population is 6,918,900,000, almost 7 Billion people. Of that number, I would guess that 5/8ths of the planet’s population (.625%) believe in some form of afterlife or reintarnation, I mean, reincarnation. That would be about 4,324,312,500 people.
Considering all of the types of civilization on our planet, from very primitive or tribal to very contemporary city living, many people believe in reincarnation. They celebrate their ancestors, and in some cases carry their remains or parts of the remains with them. It is mostly the westernized societies with the variety of religions, which put the kybosh on “life after life.”
When King James edited his version of the Bible, back in 1605, he was very conservative, and concerned about protecting his beliefs and prerogatives. However, there is one area where he might have dozed off a bit. Psalm 121:7, 8. “7. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”
Reincarnationists believe in going out and coming in. The Bible is saying the Lord will preserve thy soul; and, thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” What exactly does that mean? Is that a veiled reference to reincarnation, and how the Lord will protect one forever? Many people believe that to be true.
The fact that the earliest Bibles mention soul, means the possibility of ghosts.
Many years ago, I owned half interest in and managed a full liquor store and delicatessen. I had hired a sandwhich maker/deli attendant/cashier, and was explaining proper food handling procedure to her, with the help of two other workers.
She asked if we had a restroom. I said, “Yes, it’s upstairs. Go upstairs and down the hall, then turn left, and turn left again, and you will find it on your left. Be careful about showing your toosh, because we have ghosts in this building.” She looked at the three of us, and me like I was nuts. She said, “I do not believe in them. There is no such thing as ghosts.”
As soon as she said that, a ghost ran up the stairs and down the hall. All of us could hear the bump, bump bump, thump, thump thump, as whatever it was ran up the stairs and down the hall. I had goosebumps big enough to cut with a razor blade.
“I said, well, there you go! What was making that running noise?” Jennifer and Michelle laughed a nervous laugh. Both of them said, “You’ll get used to it.”
She did go upstairs and completed her detail, and thankfully, nothing more happened. Many years later, I still find it interesting that a ghost was standing there, listening to our conversation. With precise timing, the ghost sprang into action – in an attempt to convince a non–believer.
So, I wonder how Dr. Hawking would explain multiple experiences like that, where more than one person sees or hears the same thing?
Saturday, May 14, 2011
REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS ON 2012
Mike Huckabee, Newton Gingrich, Mitt Romney, etc. for POTUS – are you kidding me? Their chances of getting elected POTUS are the exact same as them becoming the next Pope, or Czar of Russia, or The Grand Vizier of BoogaBoogistan. They must be suffering with Presinoia! (Go to Urban Dictionary and look it up.)
I think the Republican Party should consider passing on the 2012 POTUS election. As a Republican since the first time I could vote, for Barry Goldwater, it pains me to write that.
However, I realize that the Republican Party has transmogrified into an undesirable frothy mixture of Christians and conservatives. I am a Christian, and I am a conservative, but I am not a Christian conservative.
The term conservative used to describe someone who believed in proper budgeting and wise spending. Nowadays, it refers to kooky right–wing religious beliefs. "Conservative Christians," has become the more acceptable term for antiabortion activists.
There are two bottom lines: 1) The Republicans should not be legislating morals or mores; and, 2) if God did not want abortions to happen, they would not be possible. That means paunchy, balding or grey haired older men should not be legislating what women can or cannot do with their bodies.
I can guarantee you one thing, if the roles were reversed, and any of the present Republican leadership or POTUS wannabes had to give birth, especially to an unwanted baby conceived by rape or incest, there would be abortion on demand, 24 hours a day, every day, in every larger U.S. city.
In 2011, the Republican Party had better start concentrating on reducing the budget deficit and the foreign trade imbalance, jobs creation for meaningful jobs for all people who want to work, and some type of health care available to all who need it. There needs to be a "helping hand program." Not to give people a hand out, but a hand up, to a better life outcome.
The Republican Party needs to change to a Party of all the people, not just the rich. Most important, the Republican Party needs to excommunicate the religious right. The religious right needs to form its own political party.
Unless and until those things happen, the Republican Party will continue to wallow in mediocrity.
In some ways, the GOP 2012 situation is like a cattle drive. The only thing absent is mooing and manure. None of the current Republican candidate herd is worthy of my vote.
That is why I believe the Republican Party should do a 'pass' on the 2012 POTUS election. There would be about Two Billion Dollars saved, by Democrats and Republicans – money that could be used for a better purpose.
I think the Republican Party should consider passing on the 2012 POTUS election. As a Republican since the first time I could vote, for Barry Goldwater, it pains me to write that.
However, I realize that the Republican Party has transmogrified into an undesirable frothy mixture of Christians and conservatives. I am a Christian, and I am a conservative, but I am not a Christian conservative.
The term conservative used to describe someone who believed in proper budgeting and wise spending. Nowadays, it refers to kooky right–wing religious beliefs. "Conservative Christians," has become the more acceptable term for antiabortion activists.
There are two bottom lines: 1) The Republicans should not be legislating morals or mores; and, 2) if God did not want abortions to happen, they would not be possible. That means paunchy, balding or grey haired older men should not be legislating what women can or cannot do with their bodies.
I can guarantee you one thing, if the roles were reversed, and any of the present Republican leadership or POTUS wannabes had to give birth, especially to an unwanted baby conceived by rape or incest, there would be abortion on demand, 24 hours a day, every day, in every larger U.S. city.
In 2011, the Republican Party had better start concentrating on reducing the budget deficit and the foreign trade imbalance, jobs creation for meaningful jobs for all people who want to work, and some type of health care available to all who need it. There needs to be a "helping hand program." Not to give people a hand out, but a hand up, to a better life outcome.
The Republican Party needs to change to a Party of all the people, not just the rich. Most important, the Republican Party needs to excommunicate the religious right. The religious right needs to form its own political party.
Unless and until those things happen, the Republican Party will continue to wallow in mediocrity.
In some ways, the GOP 2012 situation is like a cattle drive. The only thing absent is mooing and manure. None of the current Republican candidate herd is worthy of my vote.
That is why I believe the Republican Party should do a 'pass' on the 2012 POTUS election. There would be about Two Billion Dollars saved, by Democrats and Republicans – money that could be used for a better purpose.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
TRUMP THE PREZ... ??
Recently, Donald Trump – yeah, that guy, the guy with the weird hairdo – has been nattering on about the lack of a Barack Obama birth certificate.
Appearing on TV last Thursday, on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Mr. Trump said that he wants the issue of President Barack Obama’s birth resolved. That, so Mr. Trump could beat him fair and square.
As nearly everyone on the planet knows by now, Mr. Trump has a good dentist, a terrible barber, and more than a few assets. He probably does not worry about whether or not he will have enough money to pay his rent this month. Now, he is setting a goal for deciding if he will run for the office of POTUS. By June, he will make up his mind.
I can save him a lot of trouble by letting him know that he should fogettaboudit. It would be much more meaningful for him to donate the money he would have spent on a failed POTUS campaign to a charity intended to help others who are less fortunate.
What if, by some miracle, a genuine, 100% guaranteed, actual, authentic, birth certificate appears, showing that Barack Obama was born of alien parentage, in PooPoo, BoogaBoogistan? Then what?
Would the U.S. Congress impeach him and remove him from office? Maybe, but not likely. If Congress did succeed in impeaching President Obama, then what would happen?
Would Joe Biden become POTUS, and select a VPOTUS? Does that really sound like a good choice?
I do not think so. Normally, it would be better to wait until the next election cycle, but remember that conservative Christians hijacked the Republican Party. (The Bible thumpers really need to form their own party. It is interesting to note that these people claim to be followers of Jesus, yet do not adhere to his teachings.)
The result is a littering of marginal, doofus-like Republican POTUS wannabes, none of whom have a chance to win against Obama in 2012, or other Dem candidates in 2016, maybe even 2020. Name any of the present Republican, or “Tea Party” POTUS wannabes, being sure to include Mr. Trump. Realize the fact that his or her chances of getting elected POTUS are the exact same as becoming the next Czar of Russia, the Pope, or the Grand Vizier of BoogaBoogistan.
The Republicans need to shed the mean-spirited, "we do not care about people who are less fortunate," screed offered by right wing conservative Christians. Instead, the GOP should concentrate on finding a candidate who has good budgeting ideas; and, who genuinely cares about other people having a more successful life outcome.
I am a Republican, but I realize that until there is a refocus to more meaningful issues, the Republican Party will continue to flounder and wallow in mediocrity. The Republican Party truly needs to become, “the party of the people.” Unless that transformation happens, they will lose.
In the meantime, “Trumping the Prez,” in 2012 just ain’t gonna happen.
Appearing on TV last Thursday, on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Mr. Trump said that he wants the issue of President Barack Obama’s birth resolved. That, so Mr. Trump could beat him fair and square.
As nearly everyone on the planet knows by now, Mr. Trump has a good dentist, a terrible barber, and more than a few assets. He probably does not worry about whether or not he will have enough money to pay his rent this month. Now, he is setting a goal for deciding if he will run for the office of POTUS. By June, he will make up his mind.
I can save him a lot of trouble by letting him know that he should fogettaboudit. It would be much more meaningful for him to donate the money he would have spent on a failed POTUS campaign to a charity intended to help others who are less fortunate.
What if, by some miracle, a genuine, 100% guaranteed, actual, authentic, birth certificate appears, showing that Barack Obama was born of alien parentage, in PooPoo, BoogaBoogistan? Then what?
Would the U.S. Congress impeach him and remove him from office? Maybe, but not likely. If Congress did succeed in impeaching President Obama, then what would happen?
Would Joe Biden become POTUS, and select a VPOTUS? Does that really sound like a good choice?
I do not think so. Normally, it would be better to wait until the next election cycle, but remember that conservative Christians hijacked the Republican Party. (The Bible thumpers really need to form their own party. It is interesting to note that these people claim to be followers of Jesus, yet do not adhere to his teachings.)
The result is a littering of marginal, doofus-like Republican POTUS wannabes, none of whom have a chance to win against Obama in 2012, or other Dem candidates in 2016, maybe even 2020. Name any of the present Republican, or “Tea Party” POTUS wannabes, being sure to include Mr. Trump. Realize the fact that his or her chances of getting elected POTUS are the exact same as becoming the next Czar of Russia, the Pope, or the Grand Vizier of BoogaBoogistan.
The Republicans need to shed the mean-spirited, "we do not care about people who are less fortunate," screed offered by right wing conservative Christians. Instead, the GOP should concentrate on finding a candidate who has good budgeting ideas; and, who genuinely cares about other people having a more successful life outcome.
I am a Republican, but I realize that until there is a refocus to more meaningful issues, the Republican Party will continue to flounder and wallow in mediocrity. The Republican Party truly needs to become, “the party of the people.” Unless that transformation happens, they will lose.
In the meantime, “Trumping the Prez,” in 2012 just ain’t gonna happen.
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