I had not noticed it until my son pointed it out to me.   But recently a very large car dealership here closed.  One day their lots were full…and the next everything was gone.  It happened so fast…I hadn’t even noticed that it had.

The MG bankruptcy is very impactful upon us all. 

What happened to all those mechanics…sales people…parts people etc….?

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090613/AUTO01/906130324/1148/auto01/58+Michigan+dealers+axed

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23198.html

The dealership was large and had been in business for years…many years.  And I would have never guessed anything going on in the middle of this country would have effected it.   But it did.   And now a long time city company is now gone.  A city tax contributor…and employer is gone…a community event sponsor and underwriter is…very gone.

Now, one has to wonder what has happened to all those people who worked there?

Did they go to another dealership?

It is highly unlikely.  Even if one or 2 or…even a few of them managed to get a job at another dealership…the vast numbers of them did not.  Because every dealership is suffering from the same thing.  And all of them are fighting to keep their heads above the water.

Why?

Well, lets face it…who has money to buy a new car?

Everybody is trying to sit back and watch how things are going to work out.   So, it really isn’t a good time to go out and try to buy or make any large investments right now.  There is just to much…uncertainty.  That’s what people are thinking.   And rightly so.

So, there is an air of apprehension…and unsurety everywhere in this country…and probably around the world.

So, if people really aren’t spending money right now…every industry and company in this country is going to suffer. 

Then there is the other side of the coin too…

Many people have found themselves out of work and without any real prespects for future employment.

So, how is this thing going to work itself out?

How can it work itself out?

One of the most booming business is in the market today…is the computer…or better put is the internet.  Now, that is not to say that we are seeing the number of millionaires being churned out of it…as we did some years ago when interest in the infant stages of the internet initially started to take root.

What you see is a booming in wthe eb social sites…such as facebook, youtube, myspace etc….   And things like blogging, tweeting etc.

But people need jobs.  They need to be  able to meet their daily responsibilities and needs.

What about jobs?

What good is retraining people when they have nothing to be retained for?

It is  just a process with no real hope of a positive outcome for those who are being retained.

I recalled talking to someone who was in the process of graduating from a jr. college after being in a retaining program there.  She had worked many years in a factory doing piece-work.  So, she had to learn about computers…their operation and so on…and a bunch of other things which she never had to have a knowledge of before…nor had to worry about learning before.  She was happy and looking forward to a progressive and shinning future following her graduation and all the time she had invested in her retaining.

But after coming across her again some months later…all that hope and enthusiasm was gone.  It had turned into desperation.  She had been retained and was hoping to get into medical billing…but there were no jobs in our town or any of the neighboring towns in the field.  And her other problem was…her age.

Retraining people sounds good…but where do they go after they get retrained? 

Are they just being sold a bill of goods…false hopes…with no real relief once they have been forced out of their old jobs.

The first problem with the retraining system is that employers  need to be honest with the people they push out of  jobs.  Stop selling them a bill of goods…and false dreams when they know that there are no jobs out there for all these people.  And that those workers will never get back what they are loosing…by way of their old jobs…not to mention the pay…or benefits.

The only real way of fixing this problem is to bring  jobs back into America.  All this farming out of  jobs abroad has to stop.  Manufacturing has to be brought into this country.  There must be a recreation of  jobs in America.

All these American companies have gone abroad…where they can get labor cheaper…and this has seriously hurt the workers in this country…our economy…our neighborhoods…ownership of homes…and means of providing for our familes.

Jobs that millions of Americans used to get up and go out to daily are now gone…vanished into the thin air.  While their factories…and buildings…and compounds…sit abandon…or have been rehab into condominiums…or artists lofts. 

And the internet didn’t help any either.   It made it easy for companies to employ foreign workers…by merely writing a deal and providing them with phone lines.  It was just that easy.  They made a deal with someone sitting in a house or some back room somewhere…who you can’t even understand…and sounds like the exact same person from company to company whenever you have to contact a customer service department for any reason.   Some guy with a thick accent handling customer service for a lot of different companies.  

Forget about the fact that…you can’t understand them…rather him…because they (he) can’t understand you…and if  it’s not him…then it is her.  They must be related or a husband and wife team.   Because they have the exact same accent.  And you get them all the time…just him…or her…no matter what company or product you think  that you are calling about.

So, you call trying to work out a problem and hang up with a headache…having resolved nothing.  Because neither of you could understand the other.  Perhaps, the company who make deals with these type of service providers in various countries…and it sounds like one specific person…handling many different lines…but maybe the companies that farm out their customer service departments to entities such as these…really shouldn’t be getting our business in the first place.  Because they could care less if we get helped or not.   

They just want to say that they have customer service…because it makes people feel better when they buy a product or service to know that if their is a problem or question they can hound somebody about it.   So, these companies just want to say that they offer customer service…not intending to actually provide it.  So, they hire someone who can half speak English to help us.  

These companies…that gave away those jobs that Americans used to have in their customer service departments…they only look at the bottom line.   What do they care about service…or whether we get some or not?  Or whether the guy understands you or not?   They don’t have to talk to him…but we do. 

These companies really shouldn’t be getting our business…because in fact when they farm out jobs abroad…they are in fact…destroying this country…by destroying the job force here…by deleting more and more jobs in America in pursuit of  cheaper and cheaper labor.  It is really unfortunate that we never experience their poor customer service departments…until after we have bought into the service or purchased their products.

I understand that we live in a capitalistic society.  I even understand global capitalism…and that for capitalists the bottom line is everything…but not if you cut off your own nose in spite of your face.  And that is exactly what sending America’s  jobs abroad has ended up to being. 

Without jobs…people can’t buy…anything.   The whole country is at a stand still…because everything has been farmed out…outside of our own borders.  And though those countries are getting the jobs…but they are not earning enough money to uplift them or their country.  Therefore these companies seeking the cheap labor cannot create any other potenial customer markets for their companies which are taking advantage of these pooper countries…by under paying them.  Because they can’t afford anything…either…though they have the jobs.  But they are making no real money…or better put…earning.

GM dealership closings by state

Ala —.33; Alaska — 0; Ariz. — 11; Ark. — 17; Calif.— 65; Colo. — 15; Conn. — 11; Del. — 2; Fla. — 35; Ga. — 24; Hawaii — 2; Idaho — 8; Ill. — 66; Ind. — 48; Iowa — 46; Kan. — 29; Ky. — 23; La. — 10;.
Maine — 14; Md. — 21; Mass. — 29; Mich. — 58; Minn. — 39; Miss. — 14; Mo. — 38; Mont. — 16; Neb. — 21; Nev. — 3; N.H. — 6; N.J. — 33; N.M. — 10; N.Y. — 60; N.C. — 36; N.D. — 6.
Ohio — 79; Okla. — 17; Ore. — 21; Pa. — 90; R.I. — 3; S.C. — 24; S.D. — 16; Tenn. — 30; Texas — 55; Utah — 6; Vt. — 26; Wash. — 18; W.Va. — 25; Wis. — 50; Wyo. — 6.
Nation — 1,323

Therefore, greed just does not pay.

What seemed like a great idea…going abroad to obtain cheaper labor has in fact worked against these American companies.  So, it seems that the only way of rectifying the problem is to bring the jobs back to America…which is still the largest customer market in the world…when we are working.

So, yes…THE BISHOP’S WIFE, my book is due to be out soon.  A matter of a couple weeks now…and I am so excited.  I will keep you abreast.  And soon you will be to see the youtube ad for it.   Haven’t completed it yet…but I am working on it.  In it you actually get a chance to hear me.  I don’t think you will see me…but you will hear me…and perhaps see a phone.   As I see that many of you have checked out my ABOUT page…seeking to find out more info on me.

I am media…that is what I am.

 Well, enjoy the rest of your weekend. 

Just finished getting my hair done…and plan on being in church tomorrow.   And yes… I am still trying to catch up on my sleep…and will be doing so for quite time as I have a weeks of sleep to catch up on.

God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009

I really do not like people who like to laugh and kajol themselves on the back of other people’s suffering.  As if Chrysler’s going into bankruptcy only impacted the top dogs at Chrysler.  If that was so…then maybe my attitude might be somewhat different too.  But it does not…the top dogs rarely feel much of the ping…when the zing falls hardest upon those at the bottom.  The top dogs get paid out…retire…and go on vacation for the rest of their lives while the poor factory workers get squeezed out of  jobs.   And are left suffering…wondering about tomorrow.

So, I really hate when I hear people laughing and joking about situations which impact poor innocent people…thousands upon thousands of them…just trying to make it…as black folks say…from day to day.

What could possibly be funny about another large American corporation having to declare bankruptcy?

It merely means more re-organizing…further cut backs and down-sizing…and the shuffling of more folks off into the unemployment lines.

It also means more mortgages can’t and won’t be met…due to people loosing their jobs.  Credit card bills that won’t get paid…because…  Well, people have lost their jobs.  Less consumer wares and other items being purchased…because…well…   Yes, people have lost their jobs.  More people waiting to collect unemployment…more food stamps that will have to be given out…more medical problems for Medicare to add to their rows etc…   More…more…more people who will need to be re-trained…for jobs which do not exist etc…etc…etc..

So, what is there to cheer about…concerning Chrysler filing bankruptcy?

And yes…President Obama should do everything he can to help constrain and assist Chrysler from totally going under.

Had I not gone to visit in Detroit last August such things would have never crossed my mind…but I cannot forget all those houses and all those buildings which I saw…street after street in Detroit all boarded up.  There is something about having seen that…that has compelled me to never forget the plight of others. 

Sometimes we get caught up in how big we are and how well we ourselves are doing… and what our family has…what we have…etc…etc…   That we forget all about others…and about what is going on with them.  But this is wrong.  Other people lives do impact our lives…whether we care to believe it or not.

Recently, we have seen a series of shootings…where people just walked into some crowded place…office…church…mall…store…house…neighborhood…and just started shooting.   And as you listened to the story unfold…you heard or read that the person who had done the shooting had just lost their job…been laid off…went seeking help and met up with nothing but frustration. 

When your world comes tumbling down around you…and your family needs to be fed…the rent is due…the utilities are beginning to be cut off…and you are facing eviction…I wonder if you would be laughing because you worked for Chrysler…and your livelihood company just filed bankruptcy…and that meant it was going to cost you your job…your only means of a livelihood…for yourself and your family? 

I doubt it.

The lost of jobs…corporate bankruptcies effect us all.  And though you may view it as a government bailout because Uncle Sam is trying to help these companies out…the situations are bigger than their CEO’s.  That money that Obama is taking to aid these companies is far less than what it would cost taxpayers to sustain those people…massive numbers of people who stand  to loose their jobs.  And I really hate to hear people who have limited vision…short sightedness…and who can’t see beyond their own nose…so much so…that they fail to see the bigger…and much broader picture concerning this issue.  

Trying to re-train people for new jobs…many of whom have no computer skills and only know how to work in a factory…who many may be well up in age…meaning old…too old in fact to actively and with any real hope of ever being hired for a decent job outside of becoming some store associate, perhaps… far from receiving the pay they earned while doing piece work while on their factory job.  Yet, they will be sent to school…enter junior colleges and things…on taxpayer dollars…and into various training programs…still on taxpayers dollars…they will receive unemployment…food stamps…Medicare etc…all of which will add up to far more than the cost of trying to keep Chrysler or any other large company on the verge of sinking from going totally under.

So, what is there to laugh about…and to say-

“There goes more taxpayers money.”

It is pay now…or pay far  more later. 

This recession thing is real.   I may not be feeling it personally…but there thousands upon thousands upon thousands of Americans who are.  And they are in dire need of this country’s help and support…without the criticism.

Most people in this country have had a desire for a piece of that American pie…and when circumstances change…they should not be held responsible because curved balls have been thrown their way.   They only work  for these companies and they should not be made to suffer because of them…ridiculed…or made to feel to blame because of any changes in the global economic environment…or the one here in America.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=13241226&ch=4226713&src=news

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090430/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_automakers

Well, it is not something that many black people had not known.    That is the fact that Africa is the cradle of civilization…the place of the origins of all man.  

The first shoes made were made in Africa.  University…library…books…etc…first in Africa.  It is a widely known fact that most of the great Greek  philosophers all studied in Africa.  Africa is also known to be the place where the Garden of Eden had been.   And where it may still well be…as there are still parts of  Africa not yet seen by modern man…as you probably remember that most recently in some South American country they had found some unknown tribe of  people who had not seen the modern world.   And that was in South America…a place which is not  two-thirds the size of  Africa.

But none of this should really be a secret…as much of the Bible takes place in what as then ancient Africa…as Africa in ancient times stretched all the way into Asia.   Ethiopia and other current African countries are cited in the Bible.  Haran, a village in Africa, was the original home of Abram whose name was later changed by God to Abraham.  And mentioned a few times in the Bible is the Queen of  Sheba…an great African queen, who upon one time where she is mentioned she paid a visit  to young king by the name of Solomon where she questioned him concerning things of  God…as she was woman of God.

So, if you want to read more on this story just CLICK the LINK BELOW.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090430/ap_on_sc/us_sci_african_origins

If you want to get an understanding of early African History…CLICK and watch the video BELOW.

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/africa/video/x1uic3_lost-civilizations-africa-a-history_travel

http://www.specialtyinterests.net/sheba.html

That being said…then China would really not be the oldest civilization known to man…as history is starting to show…but Africa…the oldest civilization of  all mankind. 

It is funny to me now…as I think back…but in one of my history classes about a year ago…I handed in a paper stating just that.  Not about Africa…but about history…and how depending upon who is writing that history it may or may not bare the whole truth…or even be correct.  I wrote that no matter how much man may try to corrupt history by purposely negilecting to tell some things…or by accidently doing so…that in time all things…meaning the truth…is eventually revealed through time.

Here is the newest African Beauty to emerge upon the stage of the world…and she is a high school student living with her family in Germany…and she is Germany’s next Top Model, Sara Nuru…an Ethiopian.

You must remember that it was a young beautiful…and evidently a very knowledgeable Ethiopian Queen…Sheba, who paid a visit upon King Solomon who brought him gifts and quizzed him.

Now, I am still trying to catch up on my sleep.  So, if  you will have to forgive me.   I got up and out early this morning.   I had to do what I really do not like to do too often…and that is catch the bus.  But I must say…as a writer…it really does give you a great source for acquiring interesting little stories.  

Hope you had a beautiful day…and for some reason I am feeling much anticipation.   I guess because my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE…is due out soon…and then the work really begins.  I will keep you abreast.

God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009

I must say…if I have to say so myself…that I am so proud of me today.  Oh…I mean this morning.  I do not know what time I got up but by the time I laid back down…it was only 7:57 AM. 

I got up and had my Cream of  Wheat.   And yes…I am still enjoying it.  I had me a cup of tea…and read my Bible and then laid back down.  A few minutes later…perhaps an hour later…I got up again.  I pulled out my bucket…got the scrub brush…and pulled out the cleaners and scrubbed down the kitchen again…then I hit the doors and wall in the small hall leading towards the bathroom.  I sprayed down and lightly scrubed down the bathroom…and left it soaking. 

Wow…yeah….  I think I should be proud of myself…and it is not even noon yet.

There is something about getting up early.  You will get so much more done for some reason or another…if you get up and get started early.  There is just something about getting up early…there really is.  I do not know what…but that makes you work a little bit quicker and harder…and you just acheve more.  And now I feel so good.  And so…so proud of myself for taking care of my parent’s house in their absence.  For me having gotten up early today..and gotten started the very first thing this morning.

I have been busy working on building my website for the past couple of weeks…and the pages are coming along well.  I am really impressed with the pages that I have created thus far.  A few years ago I decided to begin taking some graphic arts classes. 

When I was in New York and started my own homebased business, an advertising agency, Queen Bee Multi-Media Advertising Agency.  I used to hire students from the campus right around the corner from my apartment…Pratt Institute, to do artwork for me.  Pratt has a very high reputation as a good art school…which I never knew at the time…but the students on that campus turned out some fantastic work for me.  I never went to see a client without feeling proud of our presentations which they had prepared under, of course, my direction.

I represented schools, furniture stores, boutiques, concert promoters etc…  There is little about advertising that I do not know about…having also a history in radio sales, media buying, telemarketing, product placement…etc…etc…etc…  But I had always had an artistic bug.

When I was a child, I had begged and begged my mother to buy me a home study art school course.  After begging for some time my mother finally broke down and ordered it for me.  That home study art school cost $300…and my mother ordered it for me.  As much as I begged for it…I only did one lesson of that course.  

Eventually, I gave away one of the books…of which there had been 3.  They were very big and thick…in a large binder…bound in expensive red binding filled with my untouched drawing lessons…and I gave away one of the 3 large lesson books and never touched those books again.  Something that my mother had sacrificed to buy for me…and that I had begged and begged for it.   And I did nothing with it…short of giving it away…and back then $300 was an awful lot of money…that really had to have been a sacrifice.   But she did it for me.

I guess she always recognized that I had talent…that I was gifted.  Though she would have done no less for any of my other sisters or brothers…and did.  As we all had to take music lessons…and all had various interests.  She had bought us all our own instrutments which she had purchased for us one Christmas. 

I will never forget that Christmas…which was our musical Christmas.  My mother must have bought everything the music store had.  Whoever owned that music store must have loved her.  That Christmas morning when we awoke…we found a large electric keyboard, piano, drum set, guiatar & amp and accordian all up under our Christmas tree. 

Before the day was out I had mastered that keyboard and could play several songs on it.  The next day that keyboard was gone.  My mother replaced it was a real full size organ.  I think back on that now and believe that she did it…because it had posed no real challenge in order to learn.   Today both the piano and the organ are still here in the house with me…and nobody plays a note on them.  That is not to say that they cannot play them…they just do not bother to do so.

My father, who had a saxaphone, a ukalie and a trumpet…which you could hear him practicing on sometimes late at night…he made me play the accordian.  When he would come home from work…I would have to pull it out  after he ate dinner that is when he forced me to practice…night after night.  None of my sisters or brothers had to practice anything before him…but me.  And he always would fall asleep on me. 

The accordian which was under the Christmas tree was my 2nd accordian.  It was the bigger version of what they had already gotten for me before a year or so ago.  And I went out every week to accordian lessons for years. 

I hated the accordian.  I loathe pokas.  I wanted to play the piano…and in the beginning I had both piano and accordian lessons.  But daddy wanted me to play the accordian…and we never argued against my mother or my father’s wishes.  So, then my piano lessons were stopped.  

As I stated in an earlier blog…our piano teacher was also my mother’s voice instructor…a little white woman who used to pay a couple of visits per week to our home…Mrs. Marlow.   She was a very nice lady…and she knew her stuff.   We were fortunate to have her.   And that she didn’t mind coming to the home of black folks…though we lived well.  At that time my parents had bought their 2nd house.  This house had 15 rooms not including its full basement…and the house sat upon a hill overlooking the waterfront…with a long driveway leading in to our house.

I liked the house…but not as much as our other house.   But it was grand…and it was spacious…but it was far more for us to clean…and especially for me…being the oldest. 

Oh, man…the living room had windows all the way around so you could look across at the water no matter whether you stood or sat.  And it had a very big fireplace…where we used to roast marshmellows…as though we were at camp.   It was fun.  And that house also had a raspberry tree growing in front of it, with a big lawn and all these beautiful trees with branchs swirling within it that yielded beautiful blossoms in the spring and summer.  

I liked it…but it was a lot of work that house…and none of my sisters or brothers had to do more of it than me.  I never held that against my parents though.  But I did against my sisters and brothers though.  They could never just drink from ‘one’ cup…or ‘one’ glass…I was washing dishes all day and night long.  I truly know how Cinderella felt.

My parents were hard working people…who always did things for other people…and were always doing  for us.    Their lives centered around us.  Which is why I regret never appreciating them as much as I should have. 

I appreciated them…in that I never once caused them any problems…(well…except for the time I thought I could drive…I will tell you about that in some other blog, I am sure).  I can’t say I may not have been a heartache…because I am sure that my being gay was not something hard for them to deal with…though they never once spoke about it.  I am sure they would be surprised that I am no longer in gay life.   But perhaps they had already known that at some point God was going to change my mind and my heart. 

But I never gave them as much as I should have.  Though they gave us the world…and everything else.  There was nothing new that came out that they didn’t buy…from dishwashers on.   As we became of age they bought us all cars.  And we were always going on trips. 

We went to the World Fair…

Do you remember that?  

It was here in the states…in New York City that year.  Now, only the big globe of the world remains at that site as a reminder of that very huge event.  The location today is where they play the US Open.  

But we were going to this place and that place…by train mostly when we were smaller…as we grew and learned to drive…mostly by car…and on by plane.  They took us everywhere…and everything was a family thing. 

I guess they lived the life that people who work…live for.  To be able to buy whatever they wanted…when they wanted it…and to do as they wanted.  And then…to be able to educate and provide for their children…which they certainly did.   And they did it well…as well as, for their god children, neighborhood kids, church people…and those in need. 

My parents had 8 of us…and spared nothing…including correcting us when it was called for. 

Today, I think my mother would be proud to know that her $300 investment in me…really didn’t quite go wasted.   As I later taught art in high school…which is so funny that should have happened…but it did.  But I don’t think my mother saw any humor in my wasting her $300 the way I did…because I didn’t even try to pretend to do any of those lessons from that home art school once I got pass the 1st lesson. 

One day…I think I was asking her for something else and she flared up at me suddenly saying-

“You are too talented and that is why you will never do nothing.”

Which was the tail end of whatever else she had said…I cannot remember the first part of it.  But she was mad when she said it.  And I was quite young…but somehow that always stuck with me.  I don’t know if I quite understood what she meant…but I had somewhat of a clue.  That statement has made me look at everything I have ever done…or thought to do…and it governs the things I am now doing. 

Everything I have ever done is in media.  From that day…when my mother told me …‘that is why you will never do nothing’…I have sought to not  half learn anything…or half do anything…but to become proficient in everything I lay my hands to…no matter how long it takes me…or how many hours in a day or night.  But if I set out to do it…then to stick with it. 

I had to learn how spend the time learning to perfect things.  To not get up from anything that I am doing…becoming readily interested in other things…other gifts…practicing something else. 

I do not eat or drink when I am working on something.   Nor do I take lunch breaks…or go to the bathroom…nothing.  I am throughly engulfed. 

Someone, an ex-,  told me that I have tunnel vision.  Meaning whatever it is, at that point or moment of my life, that I decide that I am going to do…I become so emerged and engrossed in it.  So much so…that I only see it…think about it…and in some cases dream about it.   I eat…sleep…and drink thinking about only what I am doing…when I am working on something.  When I had my advertising business…which I still do…there have been many nights when a client’s project concept came to me in my sleep.

A wise elderly woman…my friend who passed this pass August…whom I have wrote about in a couple of these blogs…she told me that my habit of not eating or going to bathroom from morning into the very late hours of the evening was not a good thing.   She told me that I would ruin my stomach…if I continued that practice.  So, I have since been working on adjusting myself…my schedule and my body.  I would hate to cause myself any medical conditions that I could have avoided.  I had always found her wise in her counsel to me.

Yes, I was too talented…like my mother said.  I could do a lot of things…and still can.  And there is a trap to being able to do so.  Most people are good at just one thing.  So, they focus on that one thing.   But to be multi-talented or gifted…you have to struggle with balancing your gifts. 

I had to learn to direct all those gifts…or I would have become a ‘jack of all trades…and a master of none.’   

My mother saw that…and that is what caused her to flare up at me telling me what she did that day…and how she told it to me.   From that moment I began to focus upon everything I do…like these blogs which to date I have written nearly if not more…than a 130 of them since starting in mid to late June of last year.   So, if you have just started reading them…you have alot of catching up to do.  And you will have an exam in the morning…

I have always had to direct everything…just so I wouldn’t be all over the place.  Though I do not think I have quite been so successful at doing that…I have endeavored nonetheless.  But the most I can say…is that it has all been media related.  But thank God for my mother saying that to me…and at a time when I needed to hear it…or I would have never been aware of something that was so crucial for me to grasp…and to have graspped it early.

It did not prohibit me from being more or less talented.  But made me aware that I needed to channel those talents and not be flighty with them…but to engage them…focus them…and develop them to their highest levels.  So, through my years that is what I have been doing.  And from time to time…I find myself taking classes here or there…just like my mother.  

That is so funny…when I think of.  That I continue to take classes just like my mother…which is also something that I wrote about….in a blog or 2 prior to this one. 

So, a few years ago, I decided to take some graphic art classes.  The marketplace has changed so vastly with the influx of computers and software…everything is done totally differently today no matter what field you are in.  So, I began taking these classes…and when I take classes I invest many after hours outside of the class to master the thing. 

I do nothing without mastering it…and I invest the time to do exactly that…and the effort.  Which when I decided to learn video production… it required me lugging around tons of heavy and very bulky equipment.   It was not uncoummon to find me shouldering a 3/4″ video recorder deck, tripod, large light kit and large video camera trying to board a bus.  And people wonder why I have muscles now…(smile).   And I learned all that equipment…every piece of it…every cable connector…every cable…every kind of editing system, software etc…everything.

It was a joke then…people would see me coming and say-

“Here comes Spike Lee’s sister.”

They don’t laugh any more though.  No, not today…instead they ask about my film projects and what I’m getting ready to do next.  I am no longer a joke…but it did not come without struggle.  Hours upon hours of vested  time, training, exploring…learning what I was doing wrong and trying to trouble shoot on my own…and sitting there until I got it done.  Never looking for pay…but always looking to assist others so that I could learn more and sharpen my own skills.  But I did what it took…and I still do. 

Sometimes even in writing these blogs…I work on them straight for more than 6 or 10 hours…if not more…and it is usually more dependng upon what I am writing about…including searching for pictures…seeking out errors etc.  

A professional is what I am…but a perfectionist is what I seek to be.  

So, to date the classes I have taken in graphic arts are these…Photoshop, Quark and  Illustrator…and additional software I have learned is FinalCut, Adobe Primere, Director, Flash,  Dreamweaver, Avid,  Fireworks…not to mention being able to write and read html…and having learned also all the latest stuff in radio studios.  Though I played a bit  with Freehand and at some point will try my hand at InDesign.  I love playing with this stuff…exploring the capabilities.

So, I am proud of myself  for having gotten up early this morning and gotten off to an early start with my cleaning.  I am proud that the website is coming along too.  And here is a preview , at the bottom of this blog, of something which I did this past week using the skills I have learned in graphic arts.  Those Pratt students can eat their hearts out now.   But those kids taught me a lot though…when they used to come for our conferences to discuss what my clients wanted.

Thank God for my mother and father…which is why I cannot understand that girl in Florida who killed her daughter and posted drawings of skeltons and other things symbolizing her acts.  Clearly, she was troubled.  But a guilty conscience will trouble you everytime.

There is something about mothers…real mothers…that when their child is missing nothing in this world can contain them.  They act in a certain way…they become obssessed…and there is no consoling them.  They are overtaken by grief and concern…and they are not interested in anybody or anything other than finding their child.

Once my son got separated from me.  You will not know the sheer horror that ran all through me during that very brief span of time…but it seemed to me to be enternity.  I was terribly horrorified.  I was overcome and on verge of perhaps loosing my mind.  I had lost my child in a large crowd of people at an outdoor affair which was quite crowded.  One second he was right there with me and the next he was gone. 

I felt someone had stolen him.  And that was all I could think.  I did not know which way to turn.  People were all about me.  I thought to scream out…but suddenly I looked up and across the field.  It was as though a  path had opened up…and there was my son.  One of  our neighbors had found him somewhere in the midst of all those people…and was bringing him back to me.  

I dropped to my knees and embraced my son so hard…I know I must have been crying.   I was so relieved…so happy…so overjoyed that someone had found him…and that it was one of our neighbors.  I never experienced another moment like that…as I learned like every good mother who loves her child or children…how to keep my eyes or hands on my child at all times. 

So, I certainly know the state that a real mother can fall into just believing her child is gone.  She begins grieving immediately…because she will only think of the worst scenario.

That is what I thought about the Susan Smith case.  The mother down in South Carolina…or somewhere south…that said that some black man had leaped into her car while she was stopped at a stop light.  She said that he had stolen her car and drove off with her 2 small children in the back seat.  I do not think that many people had to think twice about that story…but it was her actions following the supposed incident which gave her away.  And likewise…were the actions of this young woman in Florida.  She was out partying and having a good time.  

http://news.aol.com/article/caylee-anthony-documents/373178

When I thought of this young woman’s actions following the supposed disappearance of her 2 year old daughter…it made me think of that teenager who was at the prom and gave birth to her baby in a bathroom stall.  And how she had walked off and left the bady there in that stall.  She had returned to prom dance floor…and continued to dance and enjoy herself as if nothing had happened.  For which she only got 2 years…or something…might have been counselling.

I understand denial.  I understand that mothership may be difficult for many.  But what I do not understand is when someone…a mother…or who be it…commits such acts as these young women against innocence.  I cannot understand it.   I just can’t…I just can’t…   There are so many other options.

Parenting is a process…but some people they are just not equipped or mature enough to handle the responsibilities that it brings.  This is the reason…that I know that young kids should never be bearing children.  Everybody deserves to enjoy their youth…and have a time to grow up before taking on the task of motherhood and fatherhood way beyond the grade school level…and many times even beyond college.  I was 48 years old before I realized that I had become a woman…and that I needed to grow up and start acting like one.  Truthfully.

Not  to say…that I did not mother my child.  Oh, no…  I was at doctor’s appointment, dentist appointment…sitting in the back of  of my son’s classes when I had to…at every open house almost…and when I wasn’t my mother was.  You have to stay on top of your children (just a frame of speech…not literally)…and certainly not in a bad way.  But you have be conscious of them…what they are doing…who they are with…caring of them…and for them.   And you should never feel that they are an inconvenience to you…and certainly never give them to feel that.  

Therein lays the problem for the 3 young women whom I mentioned above.  They felt that they could just rid themselves of their unwanted burdens by doing away with them.  How sad for their children.  How very very very sad……..  Sad.

I was checking through my blogs today…I watch to see what people are reading and who has linked up with me etc…  I came upon this link in which the blogger found fault with a person who was standing in a soup kitchen line…and that person having a cell phone.  The blogger felt outraged because the person was supposed to be down and out…yet he had a cell phone.

I found that to be as selfish…as a time I was waiting in the grocery checkout line.  I never pay attention to what other people are buying…but this person near me…I believe she was just ahead of me but after the person who was checking out.  I overheard her saying-

“Did you see that?  She’s buying shrimps with foodstamps.  And do you see her pocketbook?  Honestly, buying shrimps on our money.”

Overhearing that, my curiosity was pricked…so I leaned a bit and saw that the woman had a Louis Vuitton handbag…a very nice and big one…and very nice expensive coat.  These are things I also never pay attention to.  What do I care about what people have on…as long as they have on clothes…or what type of pocketbook or handbag they have?  

It doesn’t make a difference to me.  

But I thought it a bit aburd of that the woman making the comment…that she was upset about the shrimps being purchased with the government supplied foodstamps.

Now, how stupid is that?

Even if she had gotten upset over the woman’s handbag…that would have been stupid too.

But she got upset…as if  poor people can’t…or should not be allowed to eat shrimp.  And that is not to say that that woman was poor…as none of us standing in that line knew her circumstances.  But to question what people can or cannot eat depending upon what is or is not our preceived notion of them and as to their place or circumstances in life is absolutely foolish. 

Why should that woman in that line…or anyone else in that line…or the whole store, for that matter…care whether or not that woman paid for those shrimps with her foodstamps?

Or whether or not she should eat shrimps or not?

She can eat whatever she wants.  And she had legal tender by which to purchase it.

Perhaps, it is just me.   Maybe, I’m the one obssessing.   Could be…

But I think that some people concern themselves with so many things that really…that they have no right to be thinking about.  As it is simply not their concern…or any of their business…nor their place to assess who can eat or cannot eat whatever. 

Just how dumb is that? 

But that is how I felt about that blog about a supposed poor person standing in a soup kitchen line taking a picture with his cell phone.   And here is that picture…

Yeah, he was standing in a line that Michelle Obama, First Lady Obama, was assisting in at a shelter kitchen feeding needy people in Washington, DC…which I believe she does every Friday.  I imagine a bunch of people were taking her picture including the camera crew that got these shots.  If I was there…I would have taken her picture.  And then asked her-

“Can we get one together?”

And whoever wrote that blog probably would have done the same thing. 

How many times do you come face to face with the President of the United States…or his wife?

“Better start snapping, baby.”

But why should anyone feel that other people…black… checkered….green…poor… or otherwise are not entitled to have certain things?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/03/05/at_miriams_kitchen_michelle_ob.html

That really seems stupid and quite selfish to me…and certanly demeaning.

It is the way I feel when I hear someone say-

“Well, if they couldn’t afford the mortgage they shouldn’t have bought the house.”

 And I have heard this more than a few times…particularly following the last bailout of the banks on Wall Street. 

Did not your parents struggle?

Don\’t we all struggle to pay off stuff?

Most people do.  And they are not wrong to do it.

I believe that everyone wishes they had the money to buy and pay for everything that they want…when they want it…or need it.  But that is not how life is. 

The unfortunate thing about it…is that no one knows what tomorrow will bring.  And we are all looking towards tomorrow. 

When I looked upon house after house..and business after business boarded up in Detroit…I know that those people had been looking towards tomorrow.  But none of them realized that when tomorrow came it would mean that jobs would be cut back.  They did not see that the company they worked for…that their father and grand father had worked before them…that they would be downsizing or laying them off.  Or as they call it now…’re-organizing.’

Who thinks like that? 

 The wrong does not lay with them…most of the people who find themselves in foreclosure…it lays with the mortgage companies which preyed upon people with over inflated interest rates…red lining, offering higher rates to certain people…higher closing costs…a bunch of double talk and small print…with high late payment penalties…and absorbent legal costs which they love attaching to their costs.

I don’t know if any of you have ever had anything repossessed.  But once they repossess your vehicle or house or whatever…the company then comes back at you to extract the money even though they repossessed and sold off whatever it was…and they leave it sitting on your credit reports for years upon years hindering you from getting anything else.   This clearly is double dipping…and these companies…none of them should be allowed to do that. 

Once they have repossess the object…and they have sold it off that should settle the debt.  But no…they come back after you.  And not for the debt minus whatever they got for it…but the entire debt plus all other costs. 

A friend of mine who worked for Greyhound buslines once told me how she had been sold a faulty vehicle.  She said it was a real lemon from the day she pulled it off the dealer lot.  So, she returned the vehicle several times to the dealership who in turn never did anything fix the problem. 

Finally, she became tired of trying to deal with the auto dealer…and just returned back to the car to the dealership where she had bought it.  She said that she drove right up on the lot in the middle of the day and left it there.   She stopped making payments on it…telling them as she left the lot that they could keep their car. 

Years later, however, she noticed that her pay was being garnished…it was the dealership.  They had kept the car but now they were forcing her company to withdraw payments from her pay check in order to pay them for a car which she had given back to them.  And at this point…she just folded her hands and gave up.  She let the company take her money…because she felt that it was a hopeless situation.  

There is something seriously wrong with the system that allows companies to use these kind of tricks to get over on and rob people.  Companies like that dealership abuse…exploit and use the system…to their benefit…a company that knowingly sold her automobile which was not in sound operating condition…and they knew it.

I had asked her if she hadn’t gotten the notice to go to court?   And she told me that she had not.  Without going into court to defend yourself…as I have stated in another blog…the other side wins automatically.  If summoned to go to court…go.  It is scary…yes, but go.

The most that can happen is that the judge won’t decide in your favor. 

There is always a case that you may not receive the  summon…if they have it sent to another address.   These are games that people play.   It is the game that CitiMortgage played against my parent’s property.   But they had not counted on the fact that I knew…by the grace of God…to go into court and file my own complaint against them…to stop the auction…and have since gotten that mortgage nullified and made void.  And believe me when I said…by the shear grace and mercy of God.  That is how it was done.

In closing let me just say…

“Stay away from bad deals.”

If you are interested in something…or getting ready to sign a contract for the purchase of  something and that contract is not in your favor…do not sign it.  Do not go into a deal…or debt…in any type of an agreement in which you are not at least a partial winner.  Or at the very least…where the pain is not so great. 

Sometime, we have all had to swallow a little pain…until we can fix things…like our credit.  But yet beware of the sharks…stay away from them.

In the claim I had to file against CitiMortgage…they claimed that my father had taken a loan against the house for some $27,000 at a 16.20%  interest rate.  This total agreement netted CitiMortgage over $60,000 in interest money…making the total contract for over $97,000 worth of debt against my parent’s house. 

My father would have never made an agreement like that.  And the other part of it is…he wasn’t much of a borrower.  Didn’t have any charge cards or anything like that…because he earned money to pay for what he wanted.  And that is what he did.

Nobody in there right mind would have signed a deal like that.  The company was making 3 times as such as it was giving out…that is robbery no matter how bad your credit may or may not be.  And my father did not have bad credit.  

I knew that document was a forgery even before I saw the signature upon.  So, I took the case to court…claiming that they had preyed upon my father, if indeed he had signed it.  At the time that contract was supposedly sign my father had been diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s which would have rendered him as being legally incompetent to enter any type of legal or binding agreement.  Plus my father had several bank accounts and definitely had at least one which had more money than that in it.   So, I sued…of which I wrote about in a prior blog also.

I continue to pray for you and whatever situation or condition you are facing.  Be encouraged.   And stay away from bad deals.

Well, my little siesta is over…it is time for me to go back to work.   Actually, it ended hours ago.  

I have to finish scrubbing down the bathroom.  And I am getting a bit hungry now too.   But enjoy your weekend.  

I just finished looking out and it looks like snow…again.  But it is warm on the inside.  Though it might be that I am running a slight fever.  Been fighting off a dry cough for the past few days…but I am winning.  Well…some times…I think.

Maybe, I will just finish the bathroom…take a shower and crawl back into bed…and forget about mopping the floors tonight.  It’s late now.

Well…God bless…

Oh…yes, here is a taste of what the website will look like.  Now, you tell me whether or not if  you think some of those classes that I have taken are starting to pay off? 

Thank goodness for a mother who was not afraid to speak truth into the life of her child.

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on “  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2009

Sometimes I just become so overjoyed that I can’t keep it to myself.  And this is one of those times.  I am suppose to be working on launching my website…which should be up this week.  But I just couldn’t not before writing this blog…to tell you just how good God is to me.

I know that many many many people are currently facing foreclosure and until I started taking care of my parent’s property it really never mattered much to me.  But following the passing of my father the 2 mortgage companies which had mortgages against our property put us into foreclosure.  But not being on the mortgages the companies refused to tell me anything…and I was the only out of my 7 other siblings who felt our parent’s property was worth fighting for and eventually paying off. 

But because my name is not on the loans for the mortgage (which of course it would not be…since the house belonged to my parents and it was their loan).  So, the mortgage companies legally did not have to give me any information regarding my parent’s account…and for the most part that is what they did.  They refused to share any information on their account with me…even though they knew that my parents were now both deceased.  And the kind of information I wanted was a copy of the payment history of the entire loan and all other information concerning it…the whole history of mortgages.

Finally, CitiMortgage, one of the mortgage companies…the one with the highest balance and most difficult company to deal with…they sent me a copy of my parent’s mortgage.   After going over the documents it showed that supposedly that mortgage had been refinanced in 1999.  But my father by that time had been diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s.  Besides his left hand shook badly…which meant that his signature would have been severely affected when he wrote.  But that copy of the supposed mortgage refinanced by him showed no signs of a wobbly hand.  And even if it had my father’s mental capacity being what it supposedly was at the time…he was not legally competent to enter into any such contractual agreement.

So, I filed papers disputing the foreclosure by CitiMortgage against my parent’s property based upon it being a false document…and as being such CitiMortgage’s foreclosure was being based upon a fraudulent document which would nullify that contract and halt their foreclosure based on the amount outstanding due to that document.

Well, after I don’t know how many months…and after receiving information from CitiFinancial that they were in possession of my parent’s property.  I went back to court.  Because CitiMortgage/CitiFinancial had failed to answer my complaint against them.  So, I entered a default against them.  Today, I received my notification that my default had been granted.

I cannot tell you how overjoyed I am.  Through the grace and mercy of God…I had won.  This decision totally knocks out a mortgage which added over  a hundred thousand additional dollars onto my parent’s prior loan. 

I knew in my heart that my father would have never placed an additional $100,000 of debt upon our property.  That money was supposedly against a loan of nearly $30,000 at an interest rate of over $60,000 making CitiMortgage a mighty big winner in that contract.   My father would have never done…and particularly since he had already had more money than the alleged near $30,000 the loan approved for…as he had more than that already in at least one of his several bank accounts.  So, I went into court Pro-se as a heir to the estate of my father…and went to fight.  But God fought that battle for me.  And I cannot thank Him enough.

I wrote this blog because I know that many people are going through much of the same.  It is very difficult trying to go to bed night after night…and not know whether or not tomorrow you will be deposed and kicked out into the streets…because some bank or mortgage company took over your home.

One of the biggest frauds going…happens when people in mortgage companies find out that there is a dispute among family members following the death of someone of whom they hold a loan against their property.  This opens the door for all kinds of things to happen if the people or a person within the mortgage company is a distrustful crook…that might shock some.   But it is very true…and not just with mortgage companies but lawyers also…anyone sitting in a position they see where they can take advantage of. 

Anybody sitting in a position who can take advantage of  such a situation many times does.  Because they seize upon the family members lack of communication with one another and their inner turmoils and conflicts to keep the family members too busy at each other’s throat…and it allows the cheats the freedom to do whatever they will.   It is for this reason that I asked to see the complete history of my parent’s mortgage from the initial mortgage on.  For which I never got because they refused to release to me.  Nor did any notices of court dates come to house regarding the foreclosure hearings. 

By not getting those notices…the notices regarding the foreclosure hearings…I could not appear in court to defend my parent’s property.  And since none of my other siblings cared…they didn’t go either.  This meant that that by default the mortgage company won their foreclosure because nobody showed up on our side of the table…or who represented us in court.

I tell people all the time…the worst thing you can do in a court case…is not show up.  By failing to show up the other side automatically wins.  Give yourself a fighting chance.  Show up and tell the judge your side of the story…you may be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.  It could make a difference.

If you have been reading these blogs then you also know that I had entered a case in the Appellate Court. 

Perhaps you are familiar with this…and are guilty of the same.  Though I must say as a rule I am not a procrastinator…but for a couple of weeks I had been walking around with the letter from the Appellate Court unopened.  I get tons of mail…and there are some pieces that I put off opening simply because I don’t want to think about it…and I am afraid of what it might be informing me of.  This was the case regarding my default notification from the court and this letter from the Appellate Court…both of which I finally decided I couldn’t put it off any longer.   So, I opened them up this morning.

It turned out I had been dreading good news from both courts.  The notice I got from the Appellate Court was to inform me that I would not have argue orally our case before the judges.  Though I had requested to do so…I really didn’t want to do it.  But from where I stand nobody can better present my case than me…and particularly since when my son had gotten a lawyer…the lawyer told him to settle for $1,800.   Our car had been totaled, my son suffered back injury (which still plagues him today)…and on top of that the repairs that the insurer of the other vehicle (the one that caused the accident) authorized were not sufficient considering the amount damage sustained to our vehicle. 

So, I filed the papers myself…when you do this it is called “Pro-Se.”  But it was not because of any of the reasons I have already listed that drove me to file suit.  No, I filed because they had returned to my son a faulty automobile which could have killed him…and they didn’t care.  The car shook…the bumper would fall off while he was driving…and at the time of the accident my son was away at college in a town which had no public transportation…not even cab service…which is why I had to buy him a car in the first place.

So, I filed suit in conjunction with my son against Allstate Insurance.  And today I heard from the Appellate Court…because if you recall, also in a prior blog, I explained how my son had really won the case…but how the whole thing had been a set-up and ended up in front of a judge who was friendly with the other side.  Don’t act shock to hear this…it happens everyday…watch LAW & ORDER.  It is regular practice for lawyers to call the clerk’s office to find out which judge is in what court and when. And try to schedule their hearing before judges who are very lenient or favorable to them.

Had we lost our case in court fairly…I would have accepted that decision.  But I could not knowing that we had not been unjustly treated and all our evidence and testimonies had been overlooked.  So, I filed a Notice of Appeal…and to the Appeals Court we were a going. 

One of the most involved documents I have ever had to put together was the legal brief that was required of the Appeals Courts.  It was over 100 pages in length and required many hours of research in a local law library and several days of typing…but I did it.  By the time our case finally got heard…following all the hearings for the various pre-hearing court dates for…Motions to be entered…and Mediation…etc..and all our travelling back and forth…many times when we barely had the money to go and come back.  But we did it any ways by faith…over 900 miles each time.

Now, the notice from the Appeals Court today informed me that we would not have to present our case orally before the Appellate Court.  I had covered everything so completely in that brief…and in great detail…including the court transcript to back up my statements.  I am so happy that we do not have to go down and stand before them.  Standing before several judges dressed in black robes…would have been a bit un-nerving for me.  But if I had to…I would have done it.  I had prepared myself to do it.  Because from the on-set…I had not filed the papers to lose our court case.  And I always knew it was just a matter of how much…because we had all the documentations, receipts, invoices, pictures etc. to prove our case.  Many times in court just having truth on yourself is not enough…you must have hard evidence…and we had both truth and hard evidence.  Then they next thing is to be capable of delivering that evidence before in a logical and as near legal manner as you can master.

I tell you this…because I do believe that if more people sued for wrongs and injustices…maybe some of us others would not have to.  We live in an area where they want to make you feel guilty for having to sue.  But believe me…many times a law suit is necessary to resolve many matters.  The problem is most lawyers won’t take any cases that they believe they won’t make any money on…or that may tie them up for too long.  This leaves those who can’t go into court for themselves with no choice but to drop the matter.  And even I have had to decide whether or not something was a battle to fight or not. 

I have not sued everybody…though my son and most of friends believe I have.  But I have not.  Some of them I have left for God to deal with.  He can do things to them that I cannot.

This reminds me of a time when I was in grade school.  While in the cafeteria one day just as I was about to sit down…this girl took her foot and snatched the stool from up under me.  I fell flat…and everybody laughed at me. 

I was so mad that I began praying to God to do something to the girl.  And a couple of years later I realized he had.  The girl is very unattractive…and I have always thought God did that to her because of me.  Truly, I have.  From that point on I have never prayed to God to take care of anybody else for me.  I thought His punishment to her was a bit too harsh. 

So, for the cases I decided not to pursue…I have just left it up to His discretion if He wants to do something about it or not.  The Bible says…He rights every wrong.

But I will keep you posted on the Appellate Court decision. 

The reason behind this blog is to encourage those of you who are facing foreclosure…or any other problem…legal or otherwise.  Do not give up.  Go back through your paperwork…there may be something in it which can turn your situation around.  You may find a loop hole…lawyers use them all the time.  But if they can so can you.

Always remember that God has the final word in all situations.  And that He is faithful.

My parent’s property is still in foreclosure but now all the  money paid on the property from the date of that refinance date that I disputed to present will have to be reverted to the old mortgage…and with interest. 

The Bible is true…God is always working it out for our good.  I am just so happy.

God is good.  And I am so happy that he is a friend of mind.

It is still Black History Month…Ida B. Wells…W.B. DeBois…Billie Holiday……Marion Anderson...Sweet Honey in the Rock…

http://mirroronamerica.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html

As I have said in my other Black History Month posts…the reason I have not given you any information on the people that I list is so that you will be motivated to research who they are.  This will prove to far more helpful to you…and to your ability to remember their accomplishments.

Well, God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009

It will be interesting to see just how many other crooks pull out of Iraq now that the Bush Administration has been retired.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090129/ap_on_re_us/ml_iraq_blackwater

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090129/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28908486/

Because Blackwater was not apart of the U.S. military their agents were allowed to reek havoc and do pretty much as they pleased without oversight during their course of stay in Iraq.  During which allegations of murder and various type of other abuses clearly hung upon that organization’s head.  Under contract with U.S. State Department, now under the leadership of one Hillary Rodham Clinton, Blackwater’s contract had been renewed last year in April 2008…but how quickly things have changed.

Contracted to aid in providing peace and safety in Iraq, Blackwater, a North Carolina based company, proved to be and do very much the opposite…leaving in their wake some 17 known killed civilians is what the Iraqi government called a ‘massacare.’  Which included men, women and children…of which Blackwater was found to be at fault…and of which Blackwater was given immunity from any prosecution.

The U.S. State Department had hired some 25,000 para-military groups such as Blackwater engaged in Irag…as alleged private security.  Most of them are nothing more than a bunch of  mercenaries and hired killers…and thieves…with nearly everyone of them over their in Iraq trying to create their own fortunes.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/04/blackwater/index.htmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/04/07/iraq.main/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/04/05/iraq.blackwater/index.html?iref=newssearch#cnnSTCVideo

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/04/05/iraq.blackwater/index.html?iref=newssearch

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/29/blackwater.immunity/index.html#cnnSTCText

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j8-xka7yIh4BmC28s6ImXlMB62OwD9612DFO0

I am sure that Halliburton and other Cheney/Bush compadres…the rest of the crooks that have been looting and robbing…and plundering not only Iraq but the United States government and taxpayers, as well…I am sure they will all be next. 

Can you imagine allowing a company…such as Haliburton…that has been exposed to having submitted bogus invoices totaling millions of dollars and double billing was allowed to keep a government contract…no fines…no nothing…not even a warning?

Well, God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009   

 Gulf War Syndrome

For some time the US government has failed to accept responsibility for having placed US Troops in harms way.  Part of the problem is that this country has boldly and somewhat routinely experimented on unsuspecting US citizens without consideration to them, their quality of life, or the effects such experimentation would have on their families.  And many times this experimentation has been on those serving in our own military…as well as, on some minorities in this country. 

Chemical warfare is real and this country engages in it as much as any other. 

During the Gulf War the US forces released certain chemicals without regard to our own troops.  This was something which occurred also during Vietnam and various other periods in the history of this country.  Very rarely has the US government ever accepted any culpability for these actions.  But finally, after numerous charges and group action suits brought on behalf of the Vietnam Vets against the US government the government finally owned up to having dropped Agent Orange during the Vietnam war which left thousands of American service men and women with all types of health issues and irregularities, e.g. various respiration problems, children with birth defects, increased incidences down syndrome, body rashes etc.

Now, after hundreds of thousands of complaints the Gulf War viets will finally find some relief after their long battle against America’s denial that they too have been injured and are suffering various ailments due our countries non-caring attitude when it comes to her own people…and particular to those serving in uniform trying to protect this country…our own troops.  Who have found that their own country was more deadly to them than those they were sent to fight.  It is called the ‘danger from within.’  The one which they certainly should not have suspected…nor did. 

But while our troops were busy down in the Gulf under the orders of the first George Bush…he had the military dropping a bunch of dirty little bombs filled with all kinds of chemical warfare.  And never whispered a word of it to our own troops…after which thousands upon thousands on this side of the battle became contaminated…and for have been suffering the paining affects of…all to the denial of this country until just recently.

It is sad to say but Sadom Hussein wasn’t the only person who ever hurt his own people.  And for a country who is the only country to have ever dropped an atomic bomb…this country not only has much to apologize for to other countries…but also to those living right here in America as well.

Last week Tuesday was Veterans Day.  Every so often we really do need to stop and consider them and their service to this country.  Without them where would this country be?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081117/ts_nm/us_usa_health_gulfwar

WELCOME TO MY HOME….

I had to chuckle when I read the article below. 

It is about body language.  It says that Obama and Bush may not have taken questions from the press but their body language spoke volumes.  You have got to read the article…I think you will enjoy it too. Just CLICK on the LINK below to read it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20081111/pl_ynews/ynews_pl148;_ylt=ApgRill4SpzF1QfaMXlCDbQGw_IE

OBAMA and MCCAIN meeting…

The one thing you have got to say about Barack Obama…and that is that he is no fool.  And he is not afraid to extend a hand and seek…to solicit the aid the help he feels he will need to help him to put this country back on track. 

He is a person who doesn’t think party when he is looking for the best people or when seeking the allies he knows he will need to assist in getting things through Congress and the Senate when he finally takes over the White House.  Even though the Democratics made significant gains in both the Senate and Congress during this past election…I agree with Obama.  It still doesn’t hurt to have friends on both side of the aisles.

It is just unfortunate that more politicians fail to share his perspective.

THE BIG 3…give them what they need.

This whole thing about bailing out the ‘Big 3′….GM, Ford and Chrysler reeks of partisanship if ever I have heard of it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081117/ts_afp/usautoeconomypolitics

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24668402-31037,00.html

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24668402-36418,00.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/business/19auto.html?_r=1&hp

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22887392#22887392

When you examine the map of this country you will find that the states whom the failure to bailout the big 3 will impact the most are those states which were ‘red’ and that turned ‘blue’ during this past Presidential Election 2 Thursdays ago.  If you want to talk about sour grapes and cry ‘foul’…now is the time. 

When those Republicans rushed back to Capital Hill to bail out Wall Street a few weeks ago…it was in the hopes of trying to save a sinking ship called the “Republican Party.”   It failed because…well, because John McCain did not win the Presidential race and a lot of their buddies and friends…and even some of them got voted out of office.  Now, as their last official act…that bunch of stub nosed politicians are targeting everyday people…who dared to go to the polls and voted them out.   And really…if the truth be known….they absolutely should have voted them out.

Had it not been for the Republican domination of the US Senate and Congress for nearly the past 8 years the Bush Administration may not have gotten away with as much…and we just might not be in the dire straights that this country is now in.

But why should that bunch of sour grape Republicans be upset?

They wholly deserved to be voted out of office because they failed to properly execute their positions properly.  Nobody voted them into office to ‘okay’ a bunch of failed Bush policies.  Then as a ‘new day’ came upon the horizon they all realized that they were in deep trouble…as well as they should have been for failure to represent their constituents.  But they were busy serving themselves, vying for higher and higher positions, and seeking ranking offices in their party rather than caring for what their voters had sent them to Capitol Hill to do.

So, Wall Street hit the wall and began to crumble a few weeks ago and they all went running in to Captiol Hill like a bunch of wild animals pretending that they hadn’t a clue…hadn’t expected it…didn’t know what to do…but knew that ‘no matter what Wall Street had to be bailed out.’   Now, those same nice little gentlemen with their righteous indignation say-

“Why should we bailout General Motors…or Chrysler…or the Ford Automobile Companies?”

I’ll tell you why…because it has nothing to do with one Corporate executive but everything to do with millions of soon to be displaced and out of work Americans who have depended on those companies to provide them with a living.  They are taxpayers…homeowners…and they deserve the same consideration and sense of emergency afforded to Wall Street.

How could we dare to be so jaded that we would dare to turn our backs on the workers upon which this country runs?

The blow to those people living in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio loosing any more jobs will be a shot heard around this country.  This country cannot afford to turn her back on these hard working people. 

I will not forget visting Detroit this past summer and seeing first hand every other house boarded up and every other business closed.  It is something that you will really have to see for yourself in order to understand just how extreme this thing was…and I do mean every other.  This was not a fantasy and I was amazed looking out at it street after street…main streets and side streets…all alike.  It is the reality that these hard working everyday people live in…many of them having already seen their neighbors loose everything due the downsizing and the shutting down of many automobile factories across this country as well as in Detroit, Indiana and Ohio.

And what industry was the one that has opened up in Detroit?

Casinos. 

Even GM has one which bares its logo very largely on the building.

For some reason every state and every politician believes that the cure all for the economy is to give people any kind of job…by the way of casinos.  They look at casinos as the new trend for job creation.  But somebody has to walk into those casinos and take some risk.  And usually it is those faced with what they believe is the last resort to saving their house or business.  Those who should least do it…but feel trapped and that there are no other options for them in oder to hold on to what they already have.

So, they go into the casino which has opened up while their jobs vanished…and they bet everything.  They bet it all.  And they end up loosing it all.  They gambled it all away.

Sooner rather than later, they found themselves without a job, had gambled away their severance pay…and then have no money left to even try to meet the debt on their homes or businesses which they had gone into the casino with the hopes of trying to save in the first place.  They are now in a worst state than they started in.

In Detroit many of factory jobs are gone…and yet that city has 2 very large brand new casinos…and a third, if you consider the casino across the waters from them in nearby Canada.  I had never been in Detroit before but I was amazed by all the houses that were boarded up and all the boarded up businesses…unbelieveably so.  In fact, between every boarded up house stood a house which wasn’t…and those people represented those who still had a job at GM.  And soon if something isn’t done for the ‘Big 3′ those people too will be out in the cold, and their houses will be boarded up as well…and other businesses will go under along with them.

That group of angry gentlemen Washington, DC…those Republicans seeking to pay back Americans for voting them out of office for their lousy job at co-governing this country and as the supposed ‘check & balances’ of this country.  They sincerely need to step back and take a deep breath to consider the millions of people who will suffer if they fail to vote in favor of bailouting the ‘Big 3.’   And it will hurt and it will reel some dire consequences upon us all if they don’t. 

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/19/news/companies/gm_failure_consumers/index.htm

But of course, such things really don’t matter to them…they live in other states and will soon be back home fishing or flying off to some remote island to retreat.

I think that there is just too little love of neighbor these days.   No one cares about anyone else anymore.  The populous is beginning to become just like the bunch of selfish and self-serving politicians.  Whom many of us are starting to emulate in every possible way…and look just like them too. 

Recently in one of my history classes we hit upon this subject…of how during the building of the EU (the European Union) many of the opinions about what is wrong or right with the EU are shaped by those in charge of media and in power.  Don’t let these same groups shape you or your opinions of others…or what is or isn’t right.

There was once a time that neighbors looked out for one another.  But those days are sadly long gone.  And it really is too bad.

Oh, yes…before I end this blog. 

Let me just say…that the automobile industry started in this country.  It is as American as apple pie.  It is a part of Americana…because other countries have entered the marketplace does not mean that we should forfeit an industry that belongs to country to foreign interests.  This is how we got into the mess we are in today with the foreign oil countries.  We forfeited that industry too.  We found it easier to buy from other countries than to continue to build upon our own reserves and resources.  And look at the state we are in because of it.   

There is no question that the American automobile companies should be bailed out.  There is no question that the automobile industry in this country would be suffering…who is buying anything these days?

Who can afford to?

We are all suffering from this current climate of failed economic management.  But is that any reason to desert our own people and an industry which this country single handedly created.

If the airlines and Wall Street have been bailed out…the auto industry certainly should be too.  To thousands from New Jersey and thousands in other states around this country upon whom there will be a great impact in lost of jobs, there can be no other answer.  But ‘bailout.’ 

Not to mention the lost that every US citizen themselves will suffer.  Heaven forbid that every American citizen should have to turn to foreign imports only as possible vihicle purchases whenever we decide we want to buy a car or SUV.  And that the only selection we will have is a foreign vehicle.  If this happens…this country will really be in big trouble.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080827/AUTO01/808270408

For an industry which has done over $70 billion worth of business in this country, with millions of car owners on the roadway today who all would stand to loose big, not even including the police departments and large companies who are invested in U.S. autos…if these companies were forced out of business by not being able to service, get parts or have any recourse when problems arose with their vehicles imagine the problems.  This would be a very great problem for tons of us.  And it is certainly something to be considered.

BAILOUT the BIG 3.

Well, have a beautiful day…and thank you, as always, for reading.

In memorial of Obama’s grandmother, Madelyn Dunham…I take this time to thank her for all of her dedication and love that she showed to our President.  And the aid that she gave him in becoming the person whom he is.  We applaud you and celebrate you…along with Rosa Parks, Shirley Chisholm, Fanny Lou Hamer, Harriette Tubman, Mary McLeod Bethune and many numerous other women for whom we owe much…and upon who’s shoulders we certainly now stand. 

Thank you Lord God for them.

 God bless…and thanks for reading ©2008

Loving You – Minnie Ripperton

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-obama-grandmother-madelyn-dunham,0,2249369.story

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/

…pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com

Well, it is about 4 o’clock and I was suppose to go to the bank today.   Guess I won’t have much money for the long weekend.  I’m trying not to use my bank card too much…because frankly I can never trust my balance when I do.  I did a transaction for a couple of thousand with my card…but later there was a disbute between me and the company.  At the end when I just couldn’t take it any more…and yes, I’m talking Xulon Printing…after one obstacle after another…I finally said enough is enoug and-

“Give me all my money back.”

I think that they were kind of tired of me anyway…but I never complained without good reason.  I do not like any company who feels they have you over a wheel barrel just because they have already gotten paid.  Perhaps you have experienced a simular situation.  But when you have paid $2000 plus dollars…even tolerance for the sake of just getting it done soon will fall by the wayside if the company is flagrant in their dealings.  And that is just how Xulon is…flagrant in their dealings.

Believe when I tell you-

“They only want your money.”

“It’s all a game.”

What else do you want to hear…because I could tell you a lot more.

So, I recently went over the internet to check my bank account balance after giving them the axe last Friday…and yes…they have yet to reimburse me any part of my $2000 plus.  But from the on-set I did realize that they would want to keep as much of my money as they could on  their side of the table. 

In fact, Xulon is only going to reimburse my bank account some $300…but I knew from early in the game…and had realized that I was probably going to have to go down to Florida and sue them…and that is not so bad since they are located near Orlando.  But based upon the facts…I am entitled to every dime of my money back…as Xulon failed to fairly meet any part of our contract.  And the kicker in the whole thing was as they not only wanted to rob me…but wanted me to say it was okay to rob me by having me sign off on our contract.  They wanted to rewrite our contract by getting me to sign off on an email that they had sent me.  

To have signed off on that email would have meant…had I signed…that I would have been writing away any chance of every later taking legal action against them.

I really was not born yesterday…but I think Xulon thought so.

If I had signed off on that email…they could have also printed up my book any way they pleased and just thrown it at me.  Because in essence really that was what they were trying to get me to sign off against. 

Since Xulon had failed to provide me with an original cover…as the cover they sent me to approve was actual a cover they had used for a  prior author’s book…yet they charged that design against my funds.  I had also paid for rush service which was to take about 45 days…what a rip-off that was.  That was way back in March and my book to this date had not even gotten into the print room…due to one hang up after another on Xulon’s part. 

Then they have this author’s site where you supposedly retrive your proofs and inter-office emails.  My access code…provided to me by Xulon never worked.  When I informed them that it did not…I was told they had thousands of other authors and none of them had any problems with their’s.  So, I could not use that service…for which they charged against my money…I am sure.   After going over the Galley twice…upon which the last time I thought this time it was really going to go to print finally…but this is when they held up the printing…yet again…and told me that if I didn’t sign off on that email that they had sent me they would not print my book until I did.

So, I sent Xulon an email concerning several issues…(1) since Xulon did not want to reimburse me my rush fee money ($299)…a service they never provided me…I told them I wanted 30 books instead of the contracted 10 in exchange for my money.  Now, that is fair…as the charge to authors for their books printed by Xulon is $5…at $5 a piece I come nowhere near my $299.  But I felt I was entitled to something for my money…and I was not just going to let them rob me and me not try to get something out of the deal.

I also said I wanted my cover printed on quality glossy cover stock…really is that too much to ask for?    Besides, Xulon claimed that they did that anyways.

So, then why did they want me to sign off  on the printing of my book…if they already provided all of that?

Because I told them that if the printing of my book didn’t meet with the quality and expectations I had paid for…then I would not be satisified. 

And why should I?  

I had afer all paid them more than $2000 to do the job…for which they had breached every term and condition concerning the services that they claimed to provide.    Such things like…a professionaly designed original book cover.  Xulon even goes as far as asking you for your suggestions for the cover…of which they follow nothing.   I said put the title in thick bold fonts…not.  I said no people in the design…not.  I said something classy and ritzy…very not.

So…I said it in my very first blog…and I am going to say it again.  You will never know the type of company you are dealing with until you actually go into business with them.  Some people may fair well with a company…but that may not be your experience.   We weary of the sharks.

However, look out for my book, “THE BISHOP’S WIFE”…once I get it published…and it will be published.  I know you will enjoy it.  It is my second piece of fictional work…about woman in the mid-fifties who can’t put out of her mind a pass love though she marries a Bishop who is not what or who she expected him to be.

Oh, forgot to tell ya’ that Small Claims in Florida allows you to sue for up to $5000…that gives me plenty of money to fly down and soak up some sun too as I visit with relatives.  But I will be going down…and soon to get my money.

Check the comments below…someone commented that she had a similar experience with Xulon.  Where was anyone writing stuff like this so I could find it when I was trying make a decision on who to get self-published with.  It certainly would have been helpful.  

Currently, AUTHORHOUSE has my contract to publish my book.  I must say…I like them already.  They even create you a website as part of you deal for no additional money.   They have a legitmate contract…something that I never got from Xulon.  They have a payment plan…and their rates are nowhere’s near Xulon or some of the others depending upon what package you buy.  And if you use them…well, they have a referral plan as well.   I know…I know…shameless of me but I want every $100 I can get…I can help to finish paying off my publishing fee since Xulon ripped me for all of my money.   So, send me a comment if you decide to go with AUTHORHOUSE…so I can collect my referral fee.  And I am not kidding.

Had something else I wanted to say but it has fleed from me now.

The other reason I am trying not to use my bank card too much…is because of the current financial situation.  I have always been told -

“A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bushes.”

I know what I have and I intend to hold onto my money…what little I have after my $2000 Xulon investment…until I’m sure which way this thing is going.  With these banks threatening to cumble you really can’t be too sure about anything.  But since the gas prices are down…keep your tank filled.  Because who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Enjoy your weekend.

God bless…  ‘pass it on…’    www.bsmith101.wordpress.com 

God bless…and thanks for reading  ©2008

After 8 years of essentially nothing but a bunch of failed economic schemes on the part of the Bush Team where we have seen one large company after another go under, Enron, WorldCom, AIG, Bear Sterns…now Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac and many large banks are headed for the drain.  Somebody needs to call in the plumber…and I guess that is what that $700 billion bailout is all about.

But what could have led George Bush to possibly believe that anybody in their right mind was going to underwrite for him a blank check giving him what would have amounted to a have virtually amounted to a $700 billion free roller coaster ride with taxpayers money with no oversights written into it…no promise of ever getting back…and was earmark directly to Wall Street.

Paulson had real cause to get down on his knees in the Senate and beg Nancy Pelosi to bless him with what evidently his boss, George Bush, had sent him to Capitol Hill to do…beg for it.  And as he dropped to his knees he was probably snickering to himself thinking about the big bonus he was going to get for brokering the deal.   And everybody…including large number of Republicans (well, it is an election year even for them…and many of them would like to return to Capitol Hill after November too)…so, they hemmed and haa-ed until finally all slowly broke down and gave him a yes.

Henry Paulson declaring that we were in a dire straits and if we didn’t act quick the walls would come tumbling down…sounded much like what Bush spewed out while rushing Capitol Hill into signing in that thing that…thereby ingratiated George Bush with the first blank check…called the Patriot Act.  And there was nothing Patriotic about it…it just gave Bush and all his little men much to much power, infringed upon our rights of privacy, allowed them to essentially set up a dictatorship right here in America.  And they had wrote it in a way that no one could…either say anything…or pose them any opposition.   They in effect have had total and absolute free reign.

At that time the powers that be on Capitol Hill…blindly turned everything over to a bunch of crooks worst than Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the George Bush Administration gang.  The Senate gave them everything but the kitchen sink without any restraints, oversights or means of appeal.  George and his people got to do whatever they wanted to…and they did.  That is exactly how he happened to order a preempted strike against Iraq…which unarguably has been one of the biggest financial mistakes in Presidential history…and World political suicides since Woodrow Wilson launched the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Bush and his crew put us into a war without end that has been draining this country of manpower, lives and absolutely huge unheard of amounts of money per day.

Since George Bush stole his way into the White House in 2000 this country has suffered one calamity after another.  Today America is in its worst financial condition since the Great Depression with both the Euro and the Chinese yen outperforming the American dollar.  Eight years of Bush Economics has virtually put this country in receivership to both China and Europe.

Since George Bush’s cooked the books on weapons of mass destruction throwing us into ‘yes’ a very un-necessary war inflation has ran wild in this country in ways we would and could have never imagined in the years prior to Bush taking over the country after Bill Clinton.

Who would have thought we would have ever seen nearly $5/gallon of gasoline at the pumps in this country?

When the gas went up…the food costs went up…clothes…medical expenses…everything went up.  And they are not going to come down…even if the cost of gas temporarily has .  The cost of gas as we once knew it is gone.  It will never be anywhere near where it used to be…$1.99 to $2.50/gallon ever again in this country…thanks to George Bush.

Everybody around the world, at the time….realized that when Bush had declared he was going to strike Iraq that the decision was for one primary reason…that decision was for the oil.  He sent troops in to plunder and destroy the infrastructure of that country…that could have never been about just a single man and his 2 sons.  The orders were too broad, too vast and far to destructive to have ever have been just about Saddam Hussein.

Halliburton was sent in….and a bunch of Halliburton sub-companies…all companies with special ties to Bush and his Administration were the only companies given contracts to enter Iraq to supposedly rebuild that country at a cost of billions of dollars to America’s taxpayers.  While Halliburton and others sent back to the U.S. Pentagon a bunch of bogus invoices and padded bills…filled with lies stealing from everyday people like you and me millions upon millions of dollars…for which they suffered no penalty and/or penalties for and are still on the Pentagon payroll.

Bush stole his way into the highest seat in this country…and immediately ate away the Bill Clinton surplus plunging America in a deficit his very first year in office.

Once he stole his way into the Oval Office, America came under attack for only the second time in her history…but this time it wasn’t some small distant South Pacific island that was hit.  A strategically planned and deployed attack on America took place on September 11, 2001… the likes this country or no country has ever seen.  It was a day I will never forget along with millions of other Americans and millions around the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/business/29bailout.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/business/29markets.html?hp

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fi-bailout29-2008sep29,0,855202.story

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/20/bush-asking-for-700-billi_n_127926.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/28/congress-white-house-reac_n_129964.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-080928bailout-deal-reached,0,2436591.story

9/11….2001

At the time I lived just on the other side of both the Brooklyn and the Manhattan Bridges, in downtown Brooklyn. 

I remember awaking to one ambulance and siren after another…non-stopping all day. 

I remember looking out my bedroom window and watching the Twin Towers engulfed by heavy black smoke that soon became white/grayish billows of smoke as they went down. 

I remember the congestion of that day of all the roadways being block, train service being suspended, people having to find their way out of darken train tunnels all over New York City.   No cabs or buses allowed through the police barricades posted all through the city in every borough…nobody could drive anywhere. 

I remember looking out the window and watching as people lined the streets passing out bottles of water to those laden with ashes from their heads down who were walking the streets in disbelief trying to find their way home from Wall Street. 

I remember sitting near the radio listening and waiting most of the day…and all of the night to the reports…the questions… and people searching for answers. 

I remember hearing that the Pentagon had just got hit…and then how a plane went down in Pennsylvania.  And everyone was trying to figure out how many more planes were out there…and wondering what would be the next target…and where? 

I remember getting dress and walking into the Brooklyn Mall area with droves of people rushing pass me…stopping to stare into the window of an electronic store to watch the TV monitors along with many others who gatheed around…just watching the towers getting hit time and time again.  And hear in disbelief “Just like in the movies.” 

I remember trying to find my way to one of the medical emergency centers set up all over New York for victims so that I could volunteer.

I remember going to the medical center they opened up in downtown Brooklyn near where I lived…and nearing the location seeing the staff standing outside their door turning droves of people away who had all come to volunteer just like me.   But they had no victims…there was no one to help.  Because they had either gotten out…or they were gone…as if they had never been.

I remember crying and wondering about friends who worked in those buildings…if they had survived? 

I remember my utter and complete feeling of lost and being lost during that whole day. 

I remember how everything had been turned upside down…and I was sitting in the midst of it less than a mile from Wall Street and the World Trade Center.

I remember the days that followed…how there was not a sound down in the subways. 

I remember how no one spoke…not one word…not even a whisper.  There was no laughter or mirth on the trains, or buses or anywhere in New York.  Every face was like stone…expressionless, empty, devastated and shocked beyond all words. 

New York was in shock for months…and New Yorkers rallied behind each other as never before during that day, and days to come.  Every fraction and group was dissolved…everything that had separated them was gone…they were all now only New Yorkers and they had been attacked.  And nothing was as unusual.  But nothing would ever been the same ever again…the towers were gone.

The towers lit your nights…gave you direction if you got lost.  They stood beautifully…long tall and straight as could be.  From Jersey to Far Rockaway…from Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manhattan and the Bronx…the towers stood as beacon on a hill lighting the way home…and now she was gone.   And nothing would ever be the same.

 

Please be sure to share this blog site with your friends.

…pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com 

God bless…and thanks for reading  ©2008

FEMA says they should be free of prosecution regarding the Katrina trailers…because they were responding to a catastrophe.

And what about the catastrophe and exceeding grief beyond all relief that FEMA knowingly produced by supplying the Hurricane Katrina victims with trailers laced with toxic poison? 

The government more so than others should always be held to the utmost standards of responsibility and the law. 

A government should protect its people…not throw them to the wolves and then turn its backs on the people it claims to represent.  

That is exactly what FEMA did.  FEMA threw the Katrina victims to the trailer manufacturing wolves knowing that the housing by way of highly contaminated trailers given to them would be hazardous and toxic to each and every person and family that entered them.

The FEMA trailers used to housed hundreds of thousands of Katrina victims were cheaply made…and made out the cheapest and most dangerous and deadly building materials money could buy…manufactured using formaldehyde a poisonous cancerous contaminant.  By having done so…FEMA managed to get more trailers for their dollars…but at what cost to the Katrina victims?

Their lives…the life of every man, woman and child…that spent a night or even a few hours in one of the Katrina trailers given to them as temporary replacement housing my their government.

The cheap hazardous housing sanctioned by FEMA…the Federal Emergency Managment Agency, an arm of Homeland Security of the United States of America…those FEMA trailers given to those who had lost everything during a raging hurricane which hit the Gulf Coast with vast davastation everywhere…they were given trailers which failed to meet federal safety standards of this country…and that the U.S. government, FEMA and the trailer manufacturers knew to be highly hazardorous, toxic and would be very deadly to the people who would inhabit them.

Yes, the U.S. government was negligent…very much so…and should be held accountable, as well as, all of the manufacturers,  who supplied trailers to FEMA for the purpose of housing Katrina victims…because they knowingly signed the death warrant…they did it knowingly…they knowingly signed the death warrent of hundred of thousands of people who had already lost everything…but their lives during Katrina.  And no amount of money is ever going to give that back to them.

And they did it all…for thirty pieces of silver…FEMA and the trailer manufacturers.

For FEMA to seek to take the owness off of themselves simply by saying…they did it because they were dealing with a catastrophe is more than irresponsible…but proaches upon callousness.

Gulfstream one of the manufacturers who got a heffy chuck of the FEMA money for suppling trailers to Hurricane Katrina victims…is a huge company with lots of luxury trailers. 

How can a company that makes trailers like this want to provide such cheap and harmful housing to anyone?

How can you do that to people who have already lost everything? 

It was like feeding them poison.  

And that is exactly what this government’s agency, FEMA along with Gulfstream and everyone else involved and aided in helping it to happen…it is what they did.  They fed the Katrina victims poison…they eat poison, slept in poison, drank poison, watched televison in poison…their children played in it and slept in it etc…and they all sucked in that poison with each and every breath that they took.

And FEMA, Gulfstream and every other manufacturer involved knew of the extremely high elevated levels of  formaldehyde in the Katrina trailers.   FEMA and its manufacturers chose to use those matterials and to give them to the Katrina victims…who have suffered all types of victimization since Katrina…that has made their survival through the hurricane look like child’s play.  Having survived Katrina…Katrina’s victims have come to find that man’s greed has proven to be more deadly and dangerous than a hurricane. 

Hurricane Katrina victims are now slowly dying from the formaldehyde contamination of their FEMA trailers…them and their children.    You can read more on this by clicking on the Links below.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1645312,00.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080723/ap_on_re_us/toxic_trailers 

http://www.pbase.com/septembermorn/katrina_was_no_lady

Well, we have finally gotten a break in the weather.  I should be running around and trying to get as much done as I can…but…  ….well, I’m on vacation.

Finally, yesterday started buying some food for my rib business…but I quickly ran out of money.  So, I am still in need of a few things before I can get started.  I am, however, watching the clock and calendar…since I have the grill…everyday I’m not up and running…the way I see it is this…I’m loosing money.  It is just the way it is. 

So, I’m hoping that before the weekend is out I’ll be up and going.  And I have already set my goal to sell 50 sandwiches, 50 lemonades…would be a good start.  Then I would want to double it next week.   My goal is low because we’re not advertising…and looking to only start off with one or two days from the yard.  You would be surprised just how much traffic goes pass my parent’s house.

Hey…you’ve got to start right where you are.  Sometimes it is the only way to go.

Well, God bless….     and have a beautiful day.

ps…there has been some flap over what the City of Denver plans to do with homeless people during the 2008 Democratic National Convention on the 25th of August.

1. They plan on allowing the homeless to stay longer during the day in the shelters
2. They will be issuing movie tickets to them
3. They will give them tickets to the museum
4. They plan to give them bus tickets to get around town to various events for which they are giving them tickets to go

To the homeless it will seem like Christmas in August. 

Obviously, it is an effort to keep the homeless away from the convention and the many people who will be invading Denver…and some say to make the homeless invisible.  But to a group of people who usually find themselves being chased out of every place like they are vipers…it will be a welcomed treat.

Oh, yes…I almost forgot to give you your second Chinese word…or saying.       xie xie…   it means thank you.    It is pronounced     cher shay…   don’t go by the way it looks…not all Chinese words sound as you would think.   Some do but they are very few…far and in between.

Now, I have taught you 2 things in Chinese.   So, if you are going to the Olympics you will find that these words will come in handy.

And since I am teaching you…let me teach you this too.    Bu dong….it means I don’t understand.

This pronounced as it looks   ….boo dung     …is how it is pronounced.

Also, in China their negative ….is  “bu”  …there is no “no” in Chinese as in other languages.

Well, enjoy China if you go to the Olympics.  ©2008

Just finished reading a very distrubing story about the FEMA trailers used to housed many…I don’t know…maybe thousands…possibly hundreds of thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims.  Seems that the trails were highly toxic and found to have extremely high levels of formaldehyde in them. 

Currently there is a mass group law suit againts the manufacturers of those trailers, of which Gulf Stream Coach was a primary contracted provider.  Now, Gulf Stream is a pretty big trailer manufacturer in this country, of which many of their products can be seen whizzing by you on the highway as many people own Gulf Stream mobile trailer units in this country.

The problem with the story is that the manufacturers, all of them…not just Gulf Stream…they all knew about these very high levels of formaldehyde in their trailers, and said nothing about it.  They gave their contaminated trailers to those people who had already lost much of what they owned, if not everything…and didn’t think twice about it.

The Katrina victims who finally got a trailer later found themselves coming down with nose bleeds, dizziness, shortness of breath and blood running out of their ears etc…etc…  After having survived Katrina now to find themselves bombarded with mysterious health symptoms…which they probably thought were a side affect to the horrible conditions they had to endure following Katrina…such as stagnant water, decaying bodies, human waste and death all around them etc.   Only to find out that their latest series of woes are due to high levels of contamination which are attributed to egregious levels of formaldehyde (poision) all through their newfound living quarters which this government had given them.

The second part of this story which is equally distrubing is that these trailers typically are manufacturered with materials that commonly use formaldehyde as a preservative.  Which means the whole structure is laden with poison. 

I don’t understand that.

If you have to go through your house and remove lead poisoning…how in the world can companies be allowed to manufacturer products for unsuspecting consumers that are laden with contaminates which can cause cancer, poision their system and kill them?

And we are not talking about small ticketed items here.

Trailer homes and mobile units are very expensive.

Since there was such a back-order on the FEMA trailers one can only surmise that the products that the manufacturers used in mass producing the Katrina trailers were made of even cheaper and more heavily laden contaminates then usual.

What a shame.

Some of the Katrina victims waited months while others waited more than a year for their trailers.  They slept in rotted out cars, filty water washed houses and anywhere they could lay their heads with the hope of one day getting back on their feet…only to find blood streaming out of their noses, pouring out of their ears and trying to fight bouts of dizzness.

They survived Katrina…but not man’s greed.

Now, the fat cats sit in Washington, DC trying to determine who is to blame…while the Bush Administration trys to keep the fire off the manufacturers, which they hired and contracted…and probably divvied up the money with.

Frist came Bush, then came 9/11, then the bombing of Iraq…and then Katrina hit.  FEMA and fraud, inflated resume’s, multi-billion dollar contracts and scam artists from all over…including from Texas and the White House.  Everybody was getting theirs…except the people who really needed it.

Made homeless by a storm now the poor Katrina victims are faced with yet another blow…toxicants in their body. 

They may have survived Katrina but the formaldehyde in their system is a battle they won’t be able to overcome.  We just pray it won’t be painful…and all the money in the world can’t give them back their health. 

Now, they have truly been robbed of everything. 

This should not go un-addressed…not at all.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080709/ap_on_go_co/toxic_trailers_6

…God bless…  ©2008

It is 2:30 in the morning and I am just now getting up.  I did a marathon yesterday…I stayed up all night without sleeping in order to push out some paperwork that I should have done long ago.  Have you ever had something you really needed to do but just could not bring yourself to get it done? 

Though I stayed up all night to do it…I never once touched what I was suppose to do until about 6 o’clock in the morning.  That’s how much I really didn’t want to do it…something that I should have gotten done back in May.  But as the legal clock was ticking, I could not afford to get out of this month, June, without at lease attempting…and I say that because I may have missed the deadline already.  But I just couldn’t drive myself to do it when I really should have…and I am usually not a procrastinator.

After one legal battle after another this year, 7 classes, 21 credits this past semester…and what seemed to me to be one controversy after another…I am tired. 

So, dealing with yet one more legal affair, which by all accounts should have been done away with last year…I just…I just did not want to do it. 

Call it frustration.  Call it laziness…call it whatever you want.  But I just did not want to do it. 

So, I stayed up all last night realizing that if it was going to get done…this was my absolute last chance to try and get it in. 

It had been a legal issue dating back to 2002, dealing with an automobile accident in which my son’s car was pretty much totaled while he was away at school…since which we had been back and forth to North Carolina in trying to get the matter resolved.  And since we had gone this far and to not see it through…  Well, I had to force myself.

What lawyers count on…is that you will give up…grow tired and concede.  They bank on it in fact.  So, they keep you tied up for years running back and forth. 

Most lawyers won’t even take a case that they don’t perceive is worth it (in time and/or money).  So, unless you have a little knowledge and possess some willingness to sit in law libraries doing a lot of reseaching…you are out in the cold.  You may have a case but no lawyer is willing to take it…because they don’t want to take the time or the frustration of handling a case which might get drawn out in court for years…of which there is not real money involved in it.  And then nobody wants to go up against the giants…because the giants have plenty of money and don’t mind trying to wear you down.

But sometimes you just have to go for it…for yourself.

This issue was one of those.  It involved my son’s life and wellness…and I could not let it go without a fight.  It was never about money…as we were entitled to money.  But the issue was they had endangered the life of my son knowingly.  And when nobody would take the case to represent my son fairly…I stepped in as a party to the case since I had purchase the vehicle and had been the one responsible for paying it off long after its demise.

Our giant was Allstate.  And though they sent out teams of lawyers against us…the facts bore us out.  We won.  And we had no lawyer representing us…and we made every court date though it was a 12 hour drive from our home…and there were over 10 court dates plus mediation, hearings for motion after motion…of which against all those lawyers…for the most part we still prevailed.

There is nothing like being blessed and highly favored.

But last year June was finally due to be our trial date.  And…BAM!  A surprise ruling just before seating the jurors.  I was removed from the case and told I was not a rightful party to the case.  Now my son was placed in a position of having to present our case. 

Now, understand this…I was the one who had filed the suit on “our” behaves.  My son had no involvement in the case other than being the person behind the wheel at the time of the accident…of which he clearly was not at fault.

As the judge was unwilling to hear my arguments as to why I should not be removed from my own case…and was unwilling to allow my son any time to prepare to move forward with our case….there was nothing that we could do. 

My son looked at me with a gleam in his eyes and whispered…”I can do it, ma.  Ma, I do it.”

I said, “____, this is not Judge Judy.”

And he said again, “Ma, I can do it.”

Well, even if he couldn’t…we had no other options in light of the Judge’s decision.

My son was amazing.

I could not believe it.

In all those various trips back and forth to that North Carolina courthouse, my son had never said one word in the courtroom…it had all been me.  Every argument, every document, every motion…everything having to do with our case including bringing the law suit had been me.  And there was my son in that courtroom, on a beautiful sunny day last June, going through jury selection like a champ, submitting evidence, questioning witnesses… like Perry Mason.  He was astounding.  I doubt that I could have done a better job.

And the best part was when he himself took the witness box and the Judge questioned him.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the house…not one in the courtroom.  Even the other side…as they watch their case go out the window before them by a couple of amateurs 

My son was great. 

And I say that beyond being just a proud mother.  I never would have thought he would have been able to carry it off…but he more than carried it off.  He swept through it…and stole center stage doing it…like a pro.

With each time we had to gone back and forth into the courtroom…each time we came back a little bit better and more prepared than the last time.  So, by the time the case was finally bought to trial we were so up on it…in terms of big posters of the pictures of the car etc.  Even down to knowing what other cases had been brought against our defendants that were similar to points in our case. 

BUT.  There had been something that we had not been prepared for.

After the Judge dismissed the jurors telling them they would have to return to the court the following day to deliberate their verdict in the case…the judge turned to my son and asked him to “show damages.”

My son didn’t have a clue what the judge was asking him for.  And then the judge commence to dismiss our case.  Meaning that it was…it was all over. 

After all those years of preparing for our case and going back and forth to North Carolina…our case was now thrown out of court.

Therein lays my frustration…we had won.  There had been no rebuttal of our evidence from the other side.  No cross testimonies or witnesses to the contrary.  We, my son and I, had successfully crossed over the bridge to the other side.  So, then why now should I still be faced with having to generate yet more court documents concerning this case?

We had won.

But we had not been prepared for the other side to steal our win from us.  We had been set up…and it had all been a sham…the whole hearing…to an unforeseeable end.  That is what it was that they swung in our direction…a sham.

Lawyers look to see what judge is going to be in what courtroom…they look for judges who are favorable to them, who belong to their country club, whom they play golf with etc…etc…even in some cases may be related to.

Don’t let anybody tell you that justice is blind.  It is a lie.

Now, we are on our way to the Appellate Court.  I will keep you abreast.  But thank God…I finally got our paperwork together. 

I had intended to make the post office yesterday…but it wasn’t until after 3 in the afternoon on Saturday that I finally had everything printed out and copied.  By that time all the post offices here in our town were long closed. 

In New York City, at 34th and 8th Avenue the post office is always opened.  It never closes…except for on legal holidays…in fact it may not even close then.  Outside of that 24/7 that post office is always open…but not that way here.

So, I missed the post office and almost missed UPS.  Got there just seconds before they locked their doors.  Didn’t want to spend all that money…but had to get my documents to the court before this month was up.  And it still might be too late.

Sometimes you just got to get over your frustration and do what you gotta do no matter how you feel about it.

Easier said than done.

I will let you know how the Appellate Court goes.  Looking forward to our 4th…June certainly blew by…in fact this whole year.  July is beating at our door and soon it will be August and back to school…some more aggravation.  An issue I have to settle there…I had put that off too.  Sometimes you just don’t want to be bothered.  You would rather not face some things. 

I hate controversy.  I dislike having to deal with them.  But I guess as long as we live there will always be one controversy after another.  Some matter that you have to tend to…or contend with.

It is now 5 o’clock in the morning.  And I didn’t have anyone else to talk to.  Well, that is not quite true…that may have been the case once upon the time.  Or what I thought was true back then…but certainly not now.

And I think I am going to consult Him right now…and read a little. 

Planning on being in Detroit during our 4th…and I’m so happy I was able to get that document out to the Court of Appeals.   What a weight…

I was so tired by the time I got through with it…not to mention how I kept finding myself dozing off at the computer while typing it up…along with rushing so much just to get it done…over a 100 pages of text I had to generate…and as the court required it to be done.  So, I really had to push myself…luckily I had done all the legal reseach in advance.  Otherwise it would have been impossible to do in one night.  No, it was several days of culinated work.  

I am just so happy to be through with it.  So much so…that I never even checked any of it for errors.  One reason being… I could barely see anything anyways…as my eyes were so crossed by 3:40 yesterday afternoon from lack of sleep that it would have served no purpose for me to even try…because I could not see anything much less a bunch of errors on over a 100 pages of court documentations.  (Just a note…I finally, did check it a day later…and had to send a revised package to the court ASAP…and plead upon the court to accept the amended document.   You only get one crack at it…so, it has got to be your best shot…and the high court…as well as, any court is no joke.  Long before you walk through the door the judge…and in this  case the judges…have read and make all kinds of decisions based upon the points of arguments in your documentation)

On my way home after getting the package off…I was so tired I had to fight to stay awake at the wheel as I drove out to the airport to deliver my package to UPS.

I was so tired…that I even forgot to get the address to the courthouse where I was to send my package.   So, I had to end up calling information just to get the address…more time…more money.

So, no political commentary…no, not this morning.  Or any discussion on hot news topics…noooo, not today.   Because…I’m just toooooo tired.

And now…I’m too tired to even go any further with this blog.  I hope some of this made sense.  I am not going to even bother to read it.  As I can barely see…   goodnight…or maybe I should say good-morning.  Enjoy your Sunday. 

And…God bless…

ps…well, I did go back over this.  And happy I did…though I had to almost put my nose to the screen of my computer in order to see… but I am just too vain to have posted this blog without first trying at least check it for errors.  Of which there were many.   Though I must admit…I made a lot of spelling errors and forgotten words here and there while writing these blogs. 

Since I am mentioning it…let me say sometimes to pays to mis-spell a thing or 2.  On the day I wrote my blog about those 17 girls and their pregnancy pact…I spelled pact with a “K”…it was also the way that many people spelled it as they searched for that story over the internet.  So, on that day due to my mis-spelling over 240 people found their way to this blog site.

Now, that is truly something.  And so wasn’t my son whom I love dearly.  He is just the best person.  And I say this often…and it is the truth.  He is a far better person than his mother.  And I should know.

Thanks for reading.  ©2008