For whom the bell tolls…Senator Teddy Kennedy gone

I didn’t know until this moment that Senator Ted Kennedy had passed.  It was just a week ago that the family laid his last sibling…his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, at age 88 to rest.   And now I read that Teddy is gone too.

A double blow to a family that has suffered blow after blow…and somehow has always managed to get up running.

Some say it was the sins of the father visited upon the children…the curse…the dredded Kennedy curse…or  whatever else you want to call it.   But truly for a family so hugely popular and politically active…they have had more than their share of personal woes.

Left to raise his brother’s children, John’s and Bobby’s,  Ted Kennedy did not have a easy road.  Through many years he battled the bottle…and finally found peace with himself, his family and his political life…emerging stronger, fitter and more determined to correct wrongs and right the up-side down, unbalanced politics of this country…just as his brothers before him had tried to do.   And through his recent battle with cancer, he continued what they call in church…‘the good fight’ for the people who needed to be fought for the most…and often overlooked. 

Diagnosed with cancer during the last leg of  Obama’s race to the White House, of  which he was a leading supporting voice…and a voice of  wisdom to the man ‘who would be’…though it was not a popular choice.   But true to his form…Teddy was true to the voice with-in…and did that which may have  not popular…but was what he felt was right…and always with an eye on what was best for America and her people.

And through that diagnoses of brain cancer, every time you saw him…he was smiling.  He took the illness as he took everything else he had to battle with during his life…acceptingly.    He accepted the challenge…and did not curtain his political life…didn’t let it stop him from attending the Democratic Convention…nor from showing strong support for his candidate of choice for the Presidency of this  country. 

My…what a man he was.  And I will never forget him for how he stood up for the ill treatment of  Anita Hill who had been summoned to Capitol Hill to testify against Clarence Thomas.  And no matter how many times the Republicans tried to sit him down and quiet him by bringing up the topic of  ‘a bridge in Massachusetts’…Kennedy refused to let that or them to silence his voice for justice and fairness.

Truly, he was a man for the people.   The type of  politicans that all states should endeavor to elect into office…a man of  convictions.  A  man of  compassion who was not afraid to take that compassion into his office as a Senator of  the United States.

May God continue to bless the Kennedy family.

He shall be truely missed…and write this with tears in my eyes.  I will never forget how happy he was…gleeful, in fact, to have been able to attend what his last Democratic Convention last August 2008,  in Denver, in which Barack Obama was announced as the Democrats candidate to run for the Presidency of this country.   And he did it after just getting out the hospital…and shortly upon the heels upon first finding out that his body was being attacked by cancer.

He died yesterday, Tuesday, August 25th…at the age of 77…11 years shy of  his sister’s Eunice’s age.   It is probably the reason why Carolyn Kennedy decided not to pursue Hillary Clinton’s seat as Senator in the State of New York.    They owed him much…she and John…they all did.  He gave his life to them…and his passion…politics.

You can view the history of  Senator Ted Kennedy by CLICKING the 2 CLINKS BELOW.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/32423545#32423545

http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream3&iref=lb100

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32491712/?gt1=43001

http://www.kcra.com/politics/20559221/detail.html

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/26/obit.ted.kennedy/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32562140/?GT1=43001

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-19138-Dallas-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m8d11-Slideshow-Eunice-Kennedy-Striver-dies-at-88

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/14/shriver.funeral/

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/14/shriver.funeral/#cnnSTCVideo

        FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS…

        No man is an island,  entire of itself

     Each is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.

     ….Each man’s death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind.

       Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for      thee…by John Donne

Well, enjoy the rest of  your day…and God bless.

Got to keep on plugging my book,  THE BISHOP’S WIFE.   

Finally finished tweeking my book trailer  and have been watching it as often as I can.  Can’t wait until you see it…so you can get all the purchase info on my book.

I think I did a good job on it… and I hope that you will too.    

So, soon you will be able find out more about my  book right here, as well…on youtube. 

Didn’t make much money at the Jamaican Festival… partly because of our location. 

This year I chose to be down by the stage…because last year when I looked down from where we were…it seemed to me that that was where the most people were.   That may have been true last year…but not this year.   We barely got any traffic…whereas, last year it was none stop.  We were so busy last year that every time a family walked by my booth…I had to grab them and enlist them to work in it…of which at least 4 of us were already working. 

So, yes…location is everything.   And this saying is true too-

“The grass always seems greener on the other side.”

Now, for my saying….but don’t believe it.    We would have done part better had I just gone back to the same location or near it as we had been last year.   And I do mean…far better.

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…” http://www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009

  THE BISHOP’S WIFE  is now on sale…CLICK this LINK to purchase my book.  You do not need a paypal account to purchase, and you can purchase using a debit card.  Thank you. 

3 comments August 26, 2009

Hillary Clinton games …Obama trust

It’s not that we didn’t expect it. 

In fact, we anticipated it.

Hillary Clinton, herself, put it out there.  And this is what she wanted.  She has been laying quietly back waiting on the Democratic National Convention to take place, where her tainted supporters plan to disturb and cause havoc…i.e. interrupt it as much as possible.

What happened to playing by the rules…none of which Hillary ever did either.

During the Democratic Primaries…first she had the Delegate vote and Obama had the popular vote, after sweeping State after State.  She said then-

“We’ll let the Delegates decide.”

She said it because…she was a Clinton and at that time she had the Delegate votes in her pocket.  Ops…I mean pocketbook.

Then Delegates began defecting over into the Obama camp…and near the end of the Primaries he still had more of the popular vote…and had gained over a lot of those Delegates.  And after it was all said and done…the vast majority of Delegates became Obama believers.

But prior to the Primaries…Michigan and Florida decided that they would move their primaries down on the calendar…to have earlier primaries.  A move that both States were warned by the National Democratic Committee not to do…or they would suffer the price of not being counted.   A policy  implemented by the Decoratic Party and agreeded upon and voted on by all the Democratic canidates…including Hillary Clinton.

What does Obama do?

He withdrew his name off the ballot in Florida…in order to be in allignment with the wishes of his Party’s Presidential Committee rules.  But Hillary does not…she kept her name on the ballots in Florida

What also did Obama do?

He did not campaign either in the State of Michigan or Florida…to be, again, in allignment with Party wishes concerning those states.

But what did Hillary Clinton do?

She neither withdrew her name from the ballots…nor did she not campaign in those states.  She went into those states repeatedly campaigning…though she knew she had voted against them being seated or their votes counted if they held early Primaries.

In other words…Hillary out and out cheated.  She failed to adhere to her Party decision concerning Michigan and Florida.  And she did her thang.  She voted one way…yet gave herself a few added points (some additional just in case votes) by doing the direct opposite of what Obama had done by adhering to Democratic Election Committee decision.  She was banking on the fact that as she watched which way the Primaries were going…that those ballots picked up in Michigan and Florida by her might come in handy…and if need be she was going to force the issue to have them counted and seated at the National Convention.  Thereby, she played the game…but was holding some additional cards on the side.  Which in any card game…is called cheating.

It is with the…whatever number of votes she garnered in Michigan and Florida…along with the other voties in the Primaries that she picked up…that Hillary claims that she had the majority vote of some18 million voters.  Which is an out and out lie.

Along with this claim, Hillary started chiming that Obama could not win the Presidential Election because he had not won any of the big states…which for the most part she had won…though many of them narrowly.  She was determined to destory Obama anyway she could…and by any means necessary.  And when all else failed to rally up the girls.

Fact that some Clinton supporters plan to disrupt the Democratic Convention set to begin in 2 weeks in Denver…really is no surprise.  Even though the fat lady has already song and gone home…there are still some tricks up the ol’ sleeve.  

It is going to be a long bumpy road to the White House.

To read more on the story CLICK BELOW…see the youtube footage.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080814/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_holdouts

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26186311#26186082

In the next footage…the Clintons, Bill and Hillary, planted the seeds of this ignorance. They irrigated…and pruned it…and then leaned back and smiled as it flourished. The Clintons breath contempt, hatred and racism…all in the name of ‘reclaiming the White House.’

And to do what with it?

This country is in need of a dire change…new direction…new blood…new leadership. Or like every superpower before it…it shall fall to fear…hatred…capitalism…exploitation…corrupt government…failed policies…racism…and absolute ignorance…as displayed in the next footage.

Register and get out and vote come November 2008…and lets put somebody in the White House who will truly work for the people…won’t compromise morality…will speak truth to lies…and do his best to serve both this country and all its people who live within it. 

VOTE OBAMA.  

Have a great day…and today is the day that my friend who we felt was passing is being laid to rest.  I thank God for her and all that she means and has meant to me.   …God bless…. ©2008

Add a comment August 14, 2008

Katrina…FEMA… responsibility…

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 warrant 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 those 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

2 comments July 24, 2008