Posts filed under: ‘Cold War‘
WHAT IS ALL THE HYPE ABOUT??? WHO IS EDWARD SNOWDEN…
Concerning that guy held up in Russia. The 1 who supposedly spilled all the beans on the U.S. 
eavesdropping on its citizens.
I really don’t get it. Didn’t George Orwell spill the beans on that years ago, when he wrote that book that Big Brother was watching us… or would be. Since the book was futuristic.
So, the future has arrived and we find that the United States and probably every other country on this planet, with any kind of good sense is listening in on its citizens. Lets face it in the world that we live in today… it probably is a good thing that somebody other than thieves, murders… spies… rapists and espionage people etc. may or may not be listening in.
Oftentimes it appears that the wrong parties have the upper hand. In watching some of these television shows a lot more contracts would be put out for somebody to kill his or her husband or wife over the phone… or some other kinds of craziness… if they didn’t believe somebody might be listening in.
We live in a time of great peril. Hadn’t you heard, ‘Evil is everywhere?’
When George Orwell wrote ‘1984’ few people would have believed that 1 person would have be able to predict so much in our changing times that would someday come to pass. But Orwell did.
Was he a prophet?
Or was he just a person with a keen sense of being able to look at things as they were, and then be able to assess how they would be some time in the distant future?
When Orwell wrote ‘1984’ it was just 1949. What had been going on in the world then?
Had the first man walked in space by then?
No.
Had Kennedy been elected?
No.
So, what was happening in 1949 that Orwell could sit down somewhere and write a book called, 1984, that predicted events and changes in the world which did eventually come about?
One major thing was television. Electronic gadgets were starting to come into the market. The first 
commercial computer was introduced… didn’t do well and wasn’t well received. But it was there.
Color came into the homes when RCA developed the first colorized television set. China became a communist country and Russia unleashed the making of its first atomic bomb. Family incomes were growing, consumer purchases were sky rocketing, and the U.S. had emerged out of the Great Depression… and the 2nd World War had come to an end, 4 years earlier in 1945.
Undoubtedly, the U.S. at this point had emerged as a great World power. 
The Cold War between Russia and America was fully under way, and America’s Allies and its strength was growing. The C.I.A. was becoming active in aiding in setting up governments, and placing men of soon-to-be-power into power around the world. And Orwell was a journalist working for the BBC… the British Broadcasting Company.
When Orwell, a British Subject, as they say… and working for the BBC… wrote ‘1984’ he depicted a world run by a government that was omnipresent… observing all its people at all times… an existence totally politically directed by those in control…and where Big Brother’s eyes and ears were everywhere… an ever present force.
When you go outside today… out to the street and look up you see cameras on the street lights… hanging off of roof tops. They even tiny little cameras and mics that can be placed into very unsuspecting places… even in public places all about. Places like hotels… lobbies… even bathrooms… school rooms… commuter rails… even on someone’s person… etc. Therefore, it should not surprise you that you are being recorded… or your actions watched. We all have watched enough TV to see how detectives can go and acquire video footage from surveillance cameras in lobbies… 
parking lots etc… in order to aid them in tracking down criminals. Cabs have them… police cars have them… and sometimes full camera crews.
If they can use such equipment to observe and track criminals… what made you think it could not be used to observe you too?
I was surprised when someone told me that all I had to do was Google my address… and see what came up. What came up was not just a picture… but a whole satellite viewing of where I live… up and down my street… all around my house.
Then take for instance GPS systems… they can tell your whereabouts at any given time. You use them as directional devices, but that directional device can be used to track you. Such devices are embedded inside vehicles too by manufacturers. So, if you fail to make your monthly payment they no longer have to search or try to figure out where you are… if you are trying to avoid repossession. No, not any more. They can push it up on a computer and come right to where you are… wherever that it . And no matter where that is they will take possession of their property, depriving you of a vehicle until payment and fees are paid in full.
Rental cars too have embedded in them the same thing. So that if a car is not returned timely the ren
tal agency can go and get their property, as well.
When I read things on the social network it amazes me just how much information people share over such public outlets as the internet. They list their jobs… home address… phone numbers… email addresses… schools they went to… towns they live in… had lived in… show pictures of their children… list the names of their relatives… and show their pictures etc…
When Edward Snowden decided that he could no longer work for whatever governmental agency
that had hired him here in the U.S.A… because his conscious bothered him concerning how this government is secretly listening in on conversations of American citizens… my only question that came to mind was this…
Out of all the countries Snowden could have ran away to… why 
Russia?
I have heard people speak of Russia… ex-citizens of that country. And that government routinely indulges in practices that cannot even begin to come close to just listening in on its citizens conversations.
http://fox43.com/2013/07/24/snowden-still-being-held-up-in-moscow-airport/#axzz2aZnKWl4L
I was sitting in one of my college classes once… which wasn’t so very long ago contrary to popular belief… and this Russian woman came into our class to visit and speak about her country. She was a guest of our Professor. She spoke of how in Russia you could not just go into business unless the government allowed you. She talked about how the Russian government controlled the newspapers and television… all the media outlets in Russia. And how everyone there… in Russia was under the restraint and control of the Russian government.
So, isn’t it ironic to anyone outside of myself… did you not think it strange that Edward Snowden would have ran from Japan to go to Russia 
trying to seek asylum there?
It is very contradictory at the very least.
We are living in the turmoils of the many diverse problems in this world today, which include bombing of public places to kill and/or hurt as many people as possible.
I am one who believes that if the crooks and hackers can assess our systems, read our emails, go into our accounts… listen in on our conversations, go up over the internet to case our exact location and homes… apartments… where we eat… what we buy… then why would Snowden’s disclosure that our government is doing it… be of any great surprise or shock to me or any one of us?
It wasn’t… least ways not to me. I was never upset when after 911 they started stopping subway trains in New York City to do random bomb searches. And neither were any of the other passengers on the subways I rode with… we all understood the times we had just stepped into when the Twin Towers came tumbling down after being flown into by those 2 airplanes.
Why should I be?
Being held up for those searches we all understood… as we knew they were trying to protect us. Save more people from being killed senselessly. So, if the government has taken to listening in on phone calls and watching people… whose fault is that?
Whose fault?
The perpetrators. Clearly, they would love our government to sit back and do nothing… but wait until the
next strike comes… like helpless children.
Did not some kind of plan have to go into effect in defense of people possibly flooding into America to destroy her, and those of us who live here.
Yes, I do believe that Snowden should be prosecuted. Because he chose that job. I am sure that he was not brought into that job without the U.S. government informing him that he was going to come in contact with highly classified information. And based upon that… and I would have to believe that any oath he may have taken in order to obtain that job… which I assume paid Ed Snowden royally… he had a duty and responsibility to live up to. Up to the secrecy and security that that position called for him to maintain.
Information that has to do with the security of our country, and the means by which that 
information is extracted should be left to those who are the safe-keepers. However, should methods and techniques such as using undue force, harassment and intimidation etc. to acquire that information… those things I am totally and 100 per-cent against. And these are things that I hope anyone being party do bring forward… but I cannot put listening-in-on… upon that same level.
Now, had Snowden’s information been of something along the nature that may have caused mass harm or life threatening… like say the government was doing something that was detrimental to us… our health and/or welfare then I would weigh in on Snowden’s right of consciousness to do the right thing by disclosing that 
info to us. But to merely tell us that we are being listening in on by the government… No, that information played more to divulging our country’s security practices, more than any personal life threatening issues that we all needed to be made aware of.
I cannot begin to tell you the number of times I called the New York Telephone company to complain about other people being on my phone line. I could hear whole 2-way conversations. And I was sure that they could do the same when it came to my calls.
There was a time in this country and most countries, I suspect… when telephones first got started that there were nothing but what they then called ‘party-lines.’ Telephone lines where you could pick up the phone and if someone was on that line talking to someone else, you just hung up and waited until you could 
get a clear line. So, the ability to listen in on phone lines… and phone calls has a very long history, which dates back to the beginning of telephone service.
Lets face it, we are all aware that most of the phone lines and/or computer internet lines that we work on and/or talk over, and text over are not secure. In fact, when the portable phones came into 
being… you remember those cordless phones with the long antennas. Everybody knew that you could be listened in on at any given time, due to the lines crossing, by anybody in your neighborhood.
I frankly do not know anyone who talks about anything really important over a telephone… or in an email… or in a text.
We all of us… Or should I say most of us remember that it was text messages that brought down the Mayor of Detroit in
his escapades with his Office Administrator, Kwame Kilpatrick.
So, then how important was Snowden’s disclosure?
Not very. It just let out of the bag… and made public to all the world something that most people already understood to be happening or could possibly be happening anytime they picked up a telephone or cell 
phone to use it.
I would imagine that you would be very hard press at these times to find any country that is not using some type of surveillance system and/or listening devices in order to stem the tide of bombings, country take overs, aid in fighting against drugs and/or corruptness 
on ever level everywhere.
George Orwell when he wrote his book, 1984, saw many things. But he did not see the changes that would become necessary in a world that man would turn against man, for no unknown reason… or a just cause. Outside of shear hatred of a culture… and the freedoms of 1 country over another. Or a right to practice a different religion.
Snowden a 30 year old ex-C.I.A and National Security Agency employee leaked details on several top secret United States and British surveillance 
intelligence. A proclaimed Buddhist and whistle blower, Snowden grew up primary in North Carolina. And when all of this broken… this story on U.S.A secret surveillance programs… and about Snowden turning over these highly confidential government secrets, he had been assigned to a U.S. post in Japan, where which he later fled to Russia seeking asylum from the United States as a spy… espionage and theft of government information.
Well, God bless… Well, I’ve got to run. I’ve noticed that the campuses are starting to co
me alive again. Saw a few school buses drive pass me today… a clear signal that school is just about in again. Hope you enjoy the rest of your week. The weather here is beautiful. Such a relief from all the tremendous heat we had been going through.
UPDATE: THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013… Russia has now given asylum to Snowden. Supposedly it is for a year. But some South American country had offered Snowden asylum prior… but Snowden did not accept it.
It all strikes me as being a bit too odd. Why would this guy want to defect to Russia… of all places?
If he is so big on human right… the right of the public citizens… our right to not have government listening in on our conversations… then why choose Russia, of all places?
I am beginning to believe that Snowden was… and is a Russian spy. From the very beginning this guy was a 
little to shady, as they say in ‘the hood.’ First he was ‘anonymous.‘ Then he ran away getting as quickly as he could to Russia?
This whole supposed whistle-blowing thing… I believe it will be proven to have been some kind of a scheme, cooked up as a well thought out plan for Snowden to have released American Intelligence claiming it was due to his conscience bothering him over what the American Government was doing. When it was nothing more than sheer just fabrication on his part and those working with him, to cover-up who Snowden really is… and just who he was really working for in the first place.
Truthfully speaking if they found out today that this whole thing was just 1 big fat lie… I would not be surprised.
Who in their right mind defects to Russia… a country with a history of routinely victimizing its citizens and invading their privacy?
Something is way out of whack here. And it just does not smell right.
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 ©2013
Add a comment July 31, 2013
THE VERIZON ATTITUDE… changes in the workplace…
I can’t imagine working for anyone who threatened me.
In reading a posting on my facebook page, I read where the daughter of 1 of my facebook friends was told by her employer during Hurrican Irene-
“If any of you leaves, you’re fired.”
Meaning that if any of the employees left the job they would be terminated.
I can’t imagine me wanting to work for anyone who would even consider trying to strong-arm me like that… and particularly in a state of emergency. But it made me think of 9/ll.
On September 11th …on the day that the airplanes flew into the World Trade Center, after the first plane hit the first tower …many of the workers in the second tower were told to remain seated, to continue working.
But friends of mine who were inside the 2nd tower of the World Trade Center that day… told me that when they saw that first plane hit… they didn’t care what their supervisors said… they were getting out of there. And because many people 
had already began evacuating that second tower, as soon as they saw what had happened to the first tower… it for many meant the difference between life and death.
A few days ago while driving down to Atlanta, I happened to catch a news story on 1010 WINS …an all news radio network in New York City. I had seen the picketers standing before various Verizon locations. But I did not know what was going on.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/9/verizon-workers-hit-picket-lines-mass-va/
It seems that the contract for 45,000 Verizon workers had expired… meaning the Verzion worker’s contract is 
now up for renegotiation. Playing hardball, Verizon withdrew their worker’s health plan when the workers went out on strike. Verzion claim that they could no longer afford to pay for the worker’s health coverage because they were losing so much money with them being out on strike.
BALONEY.
Everybody who is doing any business with Verizon should cancel every service …or whatever have you with them.
What money is Verizon losing?
None. In fact, with the workers out… they are saving money. Because Verizon doesn’t have to pay them while they are out on strike.
But the problem we face today is this… IT IS AN EMPLOYER’S MARKET.
Do you hear me?
Can you understand that?
It is like how they say it is a buyer’s market in terms of real estate sales. Because not many people are buying homes …and banks are not lending as much as they used to. So, if you got money …and it doesn’t matter about what the seller is asking 
for …make them an offer. They may just take it… you never know. Because they are not getting many other offers these days. And who knows… your’s might be their only offer.
And you see this clear across the board. Car sales and other large ticket items… because there is less cash flow these days with so many people out of work.
And therein lays the Verizon workers dilemma.Verizon is having its way with the Verizon worker’s union 
because so many people are out of work… and Verizon knows that it has the power to wheel and deal as it pleases because of the way the job market is today.
These companies have no employee loyalty. In fact, most companies today could care less about their employees. This is why most companies today do not even offer full-time employment anymore. Who needs full-time employees when there are millions of people willing… able …and ready to acce
pt part-time employment with no benefits, and wages that amount to little… but beats nothing.
There had been a time when America was sending top executives to China to learn techniques of how to create a happy and more productive working enviroment. It would seem that those executives learned something much more valuable to them. How to take an iron fist and hold it over the heads of your employees… and keep it there. Forcing them to produce more for less… while compensating them little… and forcing them to smile while the company break their backs.
I dislike companies with the Verzion attitude. My cell phone is a Sprint account… but my broadband was with Verizon. I can’t tell you how happy I am that it is off … and has been so for some time now. But I can’t see 
myself giving money to a company that will not do its employees right.
Though these companies may feel that they have the power… the truth of the matter is… no they don’t. We do. 
And our power can bring any company to its knees just as the Montgomery bus boycotts brought that city of Montgomery to its knees in the mid 1960’s, and gave way to the opening of the doors that gave us all the right to vote, sleep and eat … etc… etc… where we wanted to. Today we get on the highway and travel anywhere we want… as African American people in America… eat where we want to eat… and book a hotel and sleep where we want to sleep. But for years this was not the case at all.
I remember listening to Shirley Caesar talking about that very subject on a television show that she was being interviewed on. She said that back then when they travelled… talking about her days as a young singer travelling with Albertina Walker and the Caravan… back in latter 50’s through the 60’s. She said-
“We had to sleep in our car. Because back then they did not allow us (black folks) to stay in the hotels or the motels like they do today. And we just couldn’t pull up anywhere and eat either. Because it wasn’t allowed. If we 
wanted food. 
We had to go back around to the back the door and see if they would give us some food.”
Thank God for powerful people… who knew that they possessed power. Or we would still be sitting on the back of the bus today.
Union busting is not anything new. One of the greatest examples of it is when Ronald Reagon decided to interfere in the air traffic controller strike, PATCO …in August 1981. Reagon 
froze the air traffic controller’s $3.5 million strike fund in order to force the striking workers back to work… saying that they were in violation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifKX9EXSvrQ&feature=related
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/reagan.years/whitehouse/airtraffic.html
And if you remember any facts to this story… you will remember how quickly many of the striking air traffic 
controllers were replaced. While a the powers to be… then trained a bunch of unprofessionals to replace to them.
And our air ways have never been the same. They have found people sleeping and all kinds of crazy things. And we will not discuss what took place on 9/11.
Because if the truth be told… that is still a mystery to me?
How is it that at least 3 airplanes took off from Logan Airport in Boston… and got so far off of their courses. And nobody …not 1 person knew about it until very important buildings began to be flown into?
Something is wrong with that picture. And for the life of me… how was it that the 2nd airplane was allowed to hit the 2nd tower of the World Trade Center? This is even a bigger mystery to me?
Because before it did… every airplane and helicopter in New York City was up in the air that day soon after 
the 1st airplane had flown in the World Trade Center. So then, how is it that nobody saw the 2nd airplane until after it hit the 2nd tower of the World Trade Center?
My niece woke me that morning with a phone call saying that an airplane had just flown into 1 of the towers of the World Trade Center. And as she was still talking to me… some 20 minutes later the 2nd airplane flew into 
the 2nd tower of the World Trade Center.
How could that have happened?
After the 1st airplane into that air space… clearly, a 2nd air craft entering into that same air space should never have happened.
First of all, the air space around the whole area of the World Trade Center and Statue of Liberty was and is…a protected air space. Which means it was supposed to be under the protection of fighter jets anyhow. But notwithstanding the admission of the 1st air craft into that air space… clearly, a 2nd air craft entering into that same air space should have most definitely been shot down…and shot down 
long before coming in contact with the 2nd tower of the World Trade Center.
But going back to the then President Reagon who decided that he needed to step in on the striking air traffic controllers… and teach them a lesson. Reagon, of course, being the idol of ever Republican… the 1 that they most try to exemplify, and proclaim themselves to be the most like. And I wonder if that was before or after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s?
But then of course… nobody knows exactly how long Reagon had actually been losing it. Though I must say that most of the Republican Party seems to be fit candidates for an Alzheimer’s examination. Because truly most of them seem to be suffering from some sort of mental deficiency… starting with but not limited to Palin.
Something has to be wrong …mentally with a bunch of people who claim that they love something and seek so vigilantly to destroy it. And I am talking about America.
They claim that they love America. Yet everything they have been doing lately… and I am talking … for years now… has been done to undermine America… if not to utterly destroy it.
One of the most disastrous things to happen to the United States of America was something called George W. Bush. I understand how wars were used in past American History to re-jump start the economy. But George who was 
supposedly an economy major from that great learning institution known as Yale University, in New Haven, CT. George having gotten into hot water somehow either on his own… or via the un-wise thinking of some of his flunkies…they came up with a plan. The plan was to go to war. Start some wars and the economy will take off again… the money you spent will be forgotten… and forgiven… and all will be well.
But there was a problem with the plan. The work place had changed.
In years past America had plenty of factories and factory workers. But by the time George stole his way into the White House all those jobs were gone. Those factories had been closed… and years later turned into lovely condominiums. And if the companies still exists those jobs didn’t… robots had moved in and replaced the workers.
Do you remember when you used to read the Help Wanted Ads and saw a train of Bank Teller jobs being offered?
Look for that now. You won’t find it. Because many of those jobs no longer exist. Bank tellers have been replaced by atm machines.
The same has happened to a position called ‘receptionist.’ When was the last time you heard that word?
It is voice mail… and automated voice activated systems now. No more receptionist jobs almost anywhere today.
Most utility companies have closed down their offices which used to handle bill paying services. They don’t do that any more. Oh, no… If you can’t send it in by mail… or go to a local payment center at your check cashing center …or corner store… then for a charge call them and they will take your payment over the phone.
In 2008 Americans voted for a change. While Republicans are 
quick to say that Obama did not… or has not delivered.
Yet on the other hand Republicans will never say-
“And we have done everything within our power to ensure it.”
On every issue… and non-issue Republicans have done their best to block Obama from even trying to do anything to fix the mess. A massive and highly expensive and burdensome mess… that George W. Bush… a Republican …whom I believe will never ever be forgotten… for the mess that he left us all in. And when President Obama has managed to get something pass them… they … the Republicans attack it like a bunch o
f mad dogs.
Whoever said that Barack Obama was a magician?
Whoever said Obama was Merlin?
Or even had some kind of ‘black magic?’
In case you did think that let me be the first to just say-
“Are you for real?”
Magic is an illusion. It is based upon trickery… cunning and deceit. Thank goodness these are not traits that are found within our President Barack Obama.
President Barack Obama has never lied to us about ‘weapons of mass destruction.’
He has never tried to pull the wool over our eyes… by blinding us with a bunch of codes that meant absolutely nothing… code RED… code YELLOW… (if you have no understanding of this then you would have had to have lived in New York City following 9/11).
Obama has never tried to used 1 fear tactic to keep us up under our beds… or hid in our closets.
President Barack Obama is not the cause for why America is where America is today. He had nothing at all do do with it. He did not bring us here. In fact, as quiet as it is kept… he is trying to fix this mess. It is more than possible that he might aid in bringing us a long ways out of this runt… if we all stop listening to lies. Stop being deceived… and turning every which way the winds blows.
It is Republican deceit and lies that have turned this country upside down… and not Barack Obama.
- Corporate greed and mis-handling of business was here long before Barack Obama walked into the White House
- Job losses many years before Obama
- National Debt was already there… but really began running away after George W. Bush stepped into the Presidential picture
- Problems on Wall Street with the stock market are not new… trace them back into the 1930’s
Several States now have had to fight against Republican Governors who lead people into believing that they were either the man or woman for the job… and would wholly work for them… the voters. Telling them that they were a person with their interests in their mind and in heart… only for those voters to lament a vote that they ever casted in that person’s favor. It ended up costing voters benefits… or their job… or a less powerful union etc. Because that Republican political had an agenda. And that agenda had nothing to do with the people’s minds… or hearts that they con into believing in them with their claims of ‘I want to serve you.’
The Republicans are so slimy they have created a 2nd Republican Party… the co-called Tea Party a group of real lunatics… formed by that lunatic queen Palin and few other crazies. All of whom who have fallen out with one another… that is how firmly rooted they were. Like a bunch of crabs in a barrel… all clamouring to be the top dog… and if they can’t then they pick up their marbles and go home.
They have all… whether they call themselves ‘Tea Party’ or not… they …the Republicans have all developed a seek and destroy attitude. And that attitude did not just get started when President Barack Obama stepped into the White House… it is an attitude that they have long adapted to.
You need only to look at the 2000 Presidential Election between George W. Bush and John Kerry to see how demented the Republicans are. They saw nothing 
wrong …NOTHING…in undermining the entire American practice of our right to vote… and to have ALL our votes counted. And it was not something that they were not bold enough to do so all could see… and dared any of us to do anything about it.
So, don’t blame Obama. This mess is not his. But he decide to champion the cause… to try to set America back on the right course. To raise Her from low depths She sank to under what no one can call ‘leadership’… but just say… George Bush brought Her to.
Don’t look for magic. Look at it as it really is. The world has changed. And the work place and work force has changed with it.
Many jobs that people used to do… no longer exist.
Re-training people has it place… I guess. But when they are re-trained where will they go?
Everyone is learning computers… but there are only but so many computer jobs.
The medical field is good. In a field that had nothing but female mostly… had seen a great emergence of male. Use to be you never saw a male nurse… but today hospitals are loaded with them. Men are entering the nursing field in very large numbers. And to think there was a time that such a thing… would have been seen as being sissy.
One thing is for sure… no matter what happens in this world… we all at some 
point or other need something medical. As long as we are in these bodies the need for the medical profession cannot …or will ever be replaced. But that is not to say that it too… will not evolve. It has.
However, technology is forever changing things. But even so there will still only be a need for but so many people to work in the medical field too… at any given time.
Radio stations have changed… television stations have changed. Most newspaper companies have gone out of 
business… because few people read newspapers any more. They get their news now over the internet… on their ipads… and cells. And if you haven’t noticed… most news companies have cut back drastically on their staff.
For 1 of my journalism classes, my professor… a great woman… had been booted out of her position as a staff writer for a local newspaper… a job she had had for many years. That company’s lost was of course … my great gain. Because she came with a wealth of knowledge, and understanding about the history and future of journalism… and media at large.
But if you have noticed over the internet all the news sources seem to buy their stories from 1 source. You can read the exact same story… word for word from 1 internet source to another. And if you are like me… you always have a need to want to know more… but they don’t have it to give.
And somewhere along the way… they grab ahold of this attitude: THAT LESS IS MORE.
Yeah, right… When I want to know less…or read less… I will just stop. I don’t need anyone deciding for me… when I have had enough.
Which I guess is the main reason why so many people like my blog… www.bsmith101.wordpress.com. For as you can tell… I do not believe in the ‘less is more’ concept. Nor do I just regenerate news items. What a waste that is. If I follow a story… I want to read something I haven’t already read… or at the very least …give me 
some more details …or info on whatever it is I’ve come to your website searching for.
But going back to my thought… the workplace has changed. It is not what it was 20 years ago… or even 10 years ago.
Remember all those customer service jobs that used to be in the newspapers?
Roughly about 20 years ago customer service became such a big thing. There were tons of ad campaigns about the type of service you could expect if you did business with such and such. Companies trained their employees to greet you in a special way, and to service you as quickly and efficiently as they could.
Today all of that is gone to the wind. You can stand in a line for up to 10 or 20 minutes listening 
to someone… who is working the only open window… or check-out line… carry on a conversation with another employee or either with the person who had been right ahead of before they got to the cashier.
Have you experienced that?
You are at the top of the line… but suddenly the ‘ONLY’ open window has a highly talkative employee… or someone looking around as though they are trying to wonder why ‘their’ window or ‘their’ counter is the only 1 open?
So, what do they do?
They slow down… as if mentally they have taken a mental stand in their mind… to not kill themselves trying to serve all the people who waiting in line.
No body cares about customer service any more. And so… gone are these jobs.
Switchboard operators are a thing of the past too. A little company in your area that hired local people… mostly women to man the phone lines. But then it was for mostly doctor’s offices. Today those people can be 
anywhere in the world taking tons of calls for everything from subscriptions to publications, orders for books or other products, complaints, messages, prayer requests …you name it. But small companies in your town probably do not offer this service any more because it has been farmed out around the world.
Most of the manufacturing companies long departed …going into Mexico and other countries where the labor was cheaper.
This country really does not have a great number of blue collar workers any more. Most of the automobile
workers were replaced by robots… or companies that sent large divisions of their manufacturing into other countries as well.
So where are the jobs?
Where are the openings that are available …or will become available for all the displaced workers who are currently out of work… and have been so now for years?
There are none. And nobody can do anything to change that… because of computers coming into the marketplace. They… computers brought about an unpresidented change to what was our workplace.
The only thing you can do is look for the next big wave in the future. That will
More and more colleges are offering on-line courses. Have you noticed that?
Some schools are over the internet only.
I am dropping hints here. Personally, I hate on-line courses… and feel that they are a huge waste of time. 
If you are going to sit in isolation… with no classroom interaction… then you might as well just read the book and be done with it.
But if you were considering a teaching career. Great… but you should also consider this fact. That soon many of those teaching jobs too will soon be gone. Due to on-line classes and on-line classrooms… and schools… cities… colleges and universities looking to cut their budgets. It is coming… and soon the classroom as we know it today will be gone forever too… just like yesterdays work force.
And with it will be gone… tenure. Tenures will bite the dust just like pension plans… and all other full-time employment; and whatever else they can do away with for the sank of the bottom line.
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Soon even common currency as we know it will be gone too. They are already talking about stop minting the $1 bill. Soon it will just be all plastic… be it a debit card …or credit card…. or something else. But the coins will be gone …and the paper bills.
Bet all those folks working at the Mints all felt that their jobs were well secured. 
We have all better start to think again.
Who ever thought there would be no more pension plans?
Or health care benefits on your job?
I didn’t.
You really have to be a visionary. You have to look deep into the future. You must go beyond your nose… if you truly want to have a chance in the future. You have to look deep beyond what you
see. The future is what you cannot visually see… but something coming.
Many people now do not even go into the office any more. They can do all their work from home. They write their news articles at home… edit news copy at home… edit books at home… and mother-frames and inter-locking networks are big things in corporations now.
I do see computers… and our dependence upon them growing.
In New York City they have all most totally done away with ticket booth operators down in the subway system. They too have been 
replaced by machines… which can dispense to you fare tickets. And while in Boston not so long ago… I noticed that they were doing the same in their subway system.
The world is becoming a place of less working people… and more automated machines. And unless you are 
prepared to service these machines… or program these machines… your work history will too soon come to an abrupt end. And you will find yourself with a need to be re-trained… to nothing.
So, when George W. Bush thought that he could jump start the economy by creating a war… with the hope that the war would create jobs. He and his people forgot something. All those factories were gone… and so weren’t those jobs. And even if the jobs could be revived… robotics still had replaced the manpower that used to produce the goods.
So, the wars didn’t work. But only sunk us deeper and deeper into debt as the years have dragged on. But of course …the Republicans will never tell you any of this. Any more than Verizon will tell you that they were 
happy for any old excuse to rid themselves of paying their employee’s health benefits.
Irene hit the East Coast hard… and it seems that my cousin who informed me of the storm was right. Sadly there were a few deaths. But thank God He saw most of us through it safely.
My cousins and friends in various places… including my brother had to deal of electrical outages. But that is 
the least. Many suffered damages due to flooding and/or falling trees.
The good news is Irene wasn’t as bad as what had been expected. To God be the glory.
The New York subway is up and running once again. Though on our way back from Atlanta… I did notice where many of the over-passes in the New York area were being worked on. And that was following the earthquake that hit us… before Irene came bouncing and blowing in.
Well, God bless…and enjoy the rest of your week. Amazingly we are at the end of August already. Schools and colleges are already in. I pray that all are safe and do well.
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 ©2011
Add a comment August 28, 2011
Eva Longoria headed for divorce… North Korea milliary strike… Palin’s reality…
It never fails to amaze me just how stupid some men can sometimes be.
What was wrong with Tony Parker that he just could not be true to one of most beautiful women in Hollywood?
Clearly, Eva Longoria loved him. And he appeared to be happy with her.
http://www.popeater.com/2010/11/23/eva-longoria-tony-parker-cheated/
I recall that when the rumors surfaced regarding his bachelor party and some ‘woman of
the night.’ Eva quickly dismissed it. She totally declared it to be false and denounced anyone who dared to even claim such a thing about her then husband to be.
And why not?
Aren’t you suppose to trust the person who your are going to partner yourself to for the rest of your life?
But it would seem that Tony has proven those rumors …and all tho stories to be true.
And he looked so innocent. Perhaps, too innocent.
What is it about men that when they have a good woman… a loving and caring mate… that they fail to be able to be true to her.
You often hear men… and many women as well… often belly aching about how they cannot seem to find the right person… a good person… a decent person… a hard working man… or a loving and caring woman. Yet, when presentedd with 1 they fail to be able to appreciate him… or her.
I remember Donald Trump and his parting from Ivana. Just about everybody on 
this planet thought he was crazy. Even Marla probably had to laugh about that… as she took the Donald to the bank.
Then there was Rick somebody or other… Oh, yeah… Rick Fox and Vanessa Williams. What a jerk he must have been. Who in his right mind would ever want to be kicked to the curb by Vanessa.
But some of these guys are just to pretty. But then when they lose out on what they had… and find themselves out in the cold reflecting on their errors… it is always too late.
Grow up gentlemen and ladies… learn to appreciate and respect what you have already while you yet have it.
I have had at least 2 men cry in my presence while telling me about their wives. The wife they cheated on… took for granted… could have cared less about… until she was no more. She passed.
As I listen to 1 of them tell me how his wife had been his best friend… his childhood sweetheart… and how he cheated on her so many times… I could not help but think as tears rolled down his face-
“Why is it that you can always see a good thing when it is gone?”
All chances of showing her… or rectifying the situation had been removed. She was dead. Gone forever…and now he didn’t want anybody else. He had stopped with all the other women. All when it didn’t matter… because she was gone.
How sad can that be?
But it happens day in and day out. Some people have everything that anybody could ever want… and they just do not appreciate it.
Truly sad.
Today North Korea launched deadly rockets into South Korea killing both soldiers and civilians.
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/obama-pledges-us-would-defend-south-korea/19731500
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/north-korea-attack-unforgiveable-2141389.html
In my Just War’s class this would be called an act of ‘aggression.’
In Political Science there are a couple of ways that ‘aggression’ can be allowed and/or tolerated by the national community. One is for the reason of an ‘assumed threat’ by another nation-state. Or 2 for a reason where 1 country believes that there is real and eminent threat of being struck first.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/11/23/16279961.html
Because of nuclear weapons small Nation States no longer fear hegemon states… large powerful nations such as the United States or Great Britain… or Russia any more. The power that hegemon states once wheeled has long fallen by the wayside. The ability to create and use nuclear weapons has become the great equalizer. And now small nation states such as North Korea, Iran, Pakistan etc… now feel their muscles beginning to bulge beneath their shirts. And are anxious to have their voices heard around the world on the world stage.
What action can the United States taken against North Korea for shelling a small South Korea island with deadly mortar?
Why do we have to do anything?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/23/obama-south-korea-commitment_n_787864.html?flv=1
Yes, we have to side with our allies. And it is in our best interest to do so.
But when acts of aggression occur do not our allies likewise have an obligation to stand with us?
Today there is only 1 real super power left in this world… and that is the United States. But with soaring illegal immigration around the world… drug wars… rogue states… religious fanatics… and even some very unstable people running some foreign governments… it would seem that other like-minded nations have no choice but to stand with us. There is just too much going on in the world 
today… for any nation which is an allie of the United States to just sit back.
The ills that face this world take an united effort to quail and try to lay to rest. And that is the force that will overcome rogue nations… religious fanatics and zealots from destroying the world… unity.
Palin’s real world reality is…is that nobody really wants to watch her or her family on television. She is just not that exciting … or intriguing. And the show may hit the dust before its 8 week 
contract is up.
When the idea for this show was pitched… every thumb in the room should have been turned down towards the table. That is what TV exec’s should have done… tabled it before it got out of the box. But now after the dim ratings i just 2 episodes… they soon will.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/23/sarah-palins-alaska-ratings_n_787454.html
Well, we are now almost just 1 day away from Thanksgiving. This afternoon I made 8 apple pies. I have to make at least 2 more tomorrow…and then put a few sweet potato 
pies into the oven too.
I had bought the peaches for peach cobbler but decided to hold off on that until Christmas.
I do not know about you… but I can’t get to the table quick enough or to that turkey.
Tomorrow, I have to pick up the video camera equipment because I have decided that I wanted to video tape us all together. This year we came awfully close to having lost 1 of my sisters. She suffered a heart attack.
She is doing just fine now… but during the course of the week she was in the hospital all I wanted to do was pray. And is all I did really.
God heard our prayers.
Hope that He has heard yours too. Through the course of a year many situations come up. It is good to be able to depend upon the Lord.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving… I know we shall enjoy ours.
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 ©2010
2 comments November 24, 2010
Bishop Eddie Long…can it really be true?
I have been thinking about this all day. Since last night, really. Ever since my son called me to tell me this story it has been on my mind.
I really can’t begin to phantom any of this. I hardly know where to begin. 
And it is not that I am soooooooo in love with Bishop Eddie Long.
The truth is I know little of him really.
The first I ever saw him…he was part of Bishop Paul Morton’s Full Gospel organization. He had been one of the speakers during one of the Full Gospel Convocations…him along with Bishop Larry Trotter, whom I really loved. The man preached.
I guess that is the problem.
They can preach. And many times we get so carried away with their ability to preach that everything else about them somehow gets around us. Even when it is glaring at us.
We exalt people because of theatrics…and their ability to spin ‘The Word.’
Clearly, charismatic…Eddie Long was and is a master at what he does, and
has been doing. I loved his ability to speak to the ‘everyday man.’ Whatever that may mean.
Well, it means to bridge through to the masses. To have the ability to reach the man in the street in a way that is clear and understandable to him regarding God, how we should live, and what God desires of us.
I have no idea of whether or not these allegations are true. But the truth of the matter is this. It does not look good.
No, it just does not look good at all. And when these type of charges start emerging against anyone…they only get worst.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/22/national/main6890214.shtml
When the charges against the Priests in Massachusetts got started it was just 1 person. Then it grew to more…and finally it ended up with more than 92 cases of people claiming that they have be abused by the Priests in their Parishes.
In my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE, I state that I have come to realize that it is not the Church which is under attack. But God bringing some things to light…or to our attention, if you will.
Though my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE, is basically a fictional novel…at the rear of the book I state some things which God has revealed to me. Much of which has to do with Pastors and ‘so-called’ religious leaders… mega churches… prosperity… women… etc…
This is not to say that I am talking against Bishop Long. But one does have to 
wonder. And because of our discerning spirit…or ‘supposed’ discerning spirit… somehow it rings as true. As much as I would love not to believe it…something in my gut says-
“Its true.”
I recall the last time that I watched Bishop Long’s broadcast on Streaming Faith…maybe a couple of months ago. During that broadcast he took the time to bring out onto the stage…or pulpit…but at New Birth it seems more like a stage. But anyways…he brought a young man out from the choir who he refered to as “1 of his spiritual sons.”
This young man was one of the youth leaders of Bishop Long’s church in Atlanta, who 
had recently won some type of national recognition on “America Got Talent”…or something. The boy…or young man stuck me as being possibly gay. Or so I thought in the back of my mind.
But then I am told by a friend that I am always calling somebody ‘gay.’
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/09/21/robinson.complaint.pdf
But having been ‘gay’ and having lived in ‘the life’ for some more than 25 years…it is hard for me not to spot it no matter how closet-ted it may be.
Besides I am told that ‘you can spot’ …whatever it is that you do…or used to
do. That is to say that an alcoholic can spot another alcoholic or an ex-alcholic…or a drug addict another drug addict or ex-addit…even if it might be difficult for someone else to pick up on certain things about them.
http://www.examiner.com/christian-tv-in-national/bishop-eddie-long-scandal-divorce-info-pastor-denies-2010-controversy-videos
In fact, that was not the first time that I had heard Bishop Long make mention of his ‘spiritual sons,’ as these legal charges against Bishop Long are being brought against him by some of his alleged past… possibly near-present ‘spiritual sons.’
I have also heard Bishop Long call Bishop T. D. Jakes
his ‘spiritual father.’ Whom I am sure by this time has sought him out to assist him regarding this matter.
Just how much collateral damage these allegations will bring about is uncertain. Sometimes just the sheer allegations are more than enough to make everyone run to the hills and dessert you.
UPDATE: Wednesday, June 22, 2011… Nooooo, not so for Bishop Eddie Long’s congregation. They are sticking by him…while Bishop Long has vowed to fight this to the very end. Though I heard that maybe some negotiations have now taken place. And maybe some paying off may take place.
In searching over the internet for information on this story, I came across something on Bishop Trotter which shocked me. It is the title to one of his books….”My Wife, My Mistress, My B–ch or My Whore.”
This stuff is too wild to even be fiction. This is why we are informed in the Bible to put our trust in God only…and not man. We can admire them…respect them… and give them honor as being our Pastors. But at the end of the day many of them fall very short.
Another item on the radar is about Kim Burrell.
Has anyone heard this story?
Kim Burrell has left her church, Nelson Temple Church of God in Christ, in Houston, to start her own church. And has declared herself to be a ‘bishop.’
Kim’s church which she stated in a radio interview will be called ‘Love and Liberty Fellowship Church.’
It seems that Kim Burrell is determined to remain controversial.
There is definitely a war going on.
Perhaps, when the Bible said that ‘there would be wars and rumors of wars’… some of the wars that it was referring to would not be as traditional wars. But perhaps some mighty great ‘spiritual wars.’
One other note on Bishop Eddie Long…one could say that he was… and still 
is a ‘Preaching Icon.’ There are hardly any current Preachers who do not duplicate at least one thing or way that Bishop Long routinely says something. Often now you can a Preacher or 2 saying “Look at me.” Another Bishop Long line that is widely used by others is the word ‘scared’…Eddie Long’s way…‘skarrr-ed.’ Then there is…”I’m not afraid of nobody in here.’ And the list goes on.
It will interesting to see just how many of these sayings survive this latest religious scandal.
UPDATE: On Bishop Eddie Longe saga… What a shame. It really sadden me… in regards to all parties.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/bishop-eddie-longs-wife-claimed-vicious-abuse-divorce/story?id=11765648
A 4th young man has levied accusations against Bishop Eddie Long. When these kind of allegations come to light there are usually more. The probably
is… this. When the door is open… as this door has been opened many more may come forward. And it may or may not be true regarding all of them… but the door is definitely open for more allegations to come.
One of the first things one has to believe is this. Whenever someone states something about you …or says something about you…or that you said…or did which is not true… the natural and first response from you is to call it a ‘lie.’ But this is yet to be said on the part of Bishop Long.
UPDATE: Monday, October 24, 2011…Trouble upon trouble for Bishop Eddie Long.
http://elev8.com/news/orethawinston/new-birth-church-members-sue-bishop-eddie-long-video/
Well, hope that you are enjoying this weather. For the past 2 days it has been very hot here.
Yesterday I went to our state fair. I only go to eat the food. I love fried dough…and the sausage with onions and green peppers…and mustard, of 
course. I also can’t leave without buying a large fresh squeezed lemonade. And the only thing I missed…was the mini donuts.
I just didn’t feel like walking that far to get
them. Otherwise, they would have been had. But after eating all of what I had already bought…
Well, who had the energy?
But I am sure 
missing those mini donuts now.
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 ©2010
6 comments September 24, 2010
Charla Nash… Fort Hood…AIDS and women
I just finished watching partial footage of Oprah’s interview with Charla Nash, the woman who’s face was ripped apart by a neighbhor’s raging chimpanzee. I recall a friend telling me about the story some time ago. She kind of joked about it…talking about how the neighbor and her lover, the chimp…were having a lover’s spat.
At first I thought it humorous at the time…based upon my friend’s jokes about it. But my goodness…it was anything but a joke. Far from it. But anything where a person is injured can never be a joke at any time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking like this when my friend initially told me the story. And I am so ashamed to have laughed.
I never knew that such a thing could or would have happened to anyone. I prayed for that woman upon seeing that clip. And I am not going to show any pictures in this blog…or put any videos in it…in respect to that woman.
I feel for that woman very much…as someone who ran to someone’s rescue…to try and help them…and ended up being severely injured. Injured beyond all recognition. As half of her face was torn off…and it seemed that her fingers and hands had been destroyed as well.
Her face wasn’t even a face. Her eyes…it was like her whole mouth…teeth were gone too. But I guess it was the best that anyone could do for her considering the intensitiy of her injuries.
It was a horror…but even more so something which really made me feel sad for the woman. And I began to pray for her.
The fact that the woman went on Oprah’s show and discussed the attack was a sign that the woman has come to grip with her life as it is now. Which speaks volumes for her.
But she didn’t sound angry…or furious with God over what had happened to her. As so many people often do when tragedy strikes.
What a woman. Much can be said for inner strenght…and being able to connect to it…in order to see your way through any circumstance.
I don’t know if I have that. But I pray that if ever the need were to arise that I would have the strenght of character to connect to it too.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/02/18/2009-02-18_charla_nash_lost_eyes_nose_and_jaw_in_ch.html
One day after Veteran’s Day…I spent some time trying to digest what happened on the grounds of Fort Hood where 13 were killed and several others were shot and injured.
I wondered if this was the act of one of those buried or implanted individuals that we had heard so much about following 9/11?
You know…those who were trained aboard then shipped here for some appointed time to cause havoc while killing Americans in the wake of it.
There is so much killing these days…domestically that who is going to tolerate non-American forces or luntics of any kind coming here to add to the carnage?
If indeed there are implants…persons angry with America and Western culture…sitting around and waiting on a time to attack. Well, Americans are not going to sit back and just take that.
So, if indeed that doctor at Fort Hood was part of some kind clan…he will be dealt with very harshly. And as well he should be.
Is it not enough that they went aboard and risked their lives in foreign lands…then to come home and be shot down?
From 19 to 62…so young and so dedicated to the US Military. They did not give their lives…but their lives were taken…stolen.
http://news.aol.com/article/obama-remembers-the-fallen-at-fort-hood/761755
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/12/fort.hood.wounded.soldier/index.html
Since the medication for AIDS has gotten so much better…and people are living longer…we pay little to no attention to AIDS any more. It is not the hot topic it once was.
Because Magic looks so good…so healthy…for many the fear of AIDS has all but been washed away. Many feel that it isn’t as great of a threat as it once was…and its affects are not taken as seriously any more.
But unlike Magic…Natalie Cole doesn’t look so healthy. In fact, she looks sick…aging and weak.
This past week I came across this article about AIDS and that it is a leading cause for deaths in women. You might want to read this for yourself.
http://news.aol.com/health/article/aids-is-leading-cause-of-death-disease/759472
Hope you had a good day. It’s late…after 2 AM…and I am planning on getting up early. So, I hope that you have a beautiful day tomorrow and a beautiful weekend.
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
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Add a comment November 13, 2009
Rooting out a scandal…ACORN under investigation… Raccoon problem2…
Who in the world is ACORN?
Well, first of all ACORN is an acronym which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Hence…Acorn. It is an organization which advocates for poor people.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/10-22-2004/0002292745&EDATE=
But what I did not understand was…
What was all the secrecy about some supposed cover-up scadal?
And why were certain news organization declaring-
“An Acorn cover-up.”
And who was covering up what?
And for what reason?
I had read some of this article below…and began wondering why…what scandal…and why was some organization named ‘Acorn’…in danger of of losing its funding?
http://news.aol.com/article/the-point-acorn-scandal-federal-funds/673000
So, of course, I had to put on my old Sherlock Holmes hat and begin sniffing about.
To answer my first question….who was Acorn?
During the 2008 Presidential Election a community based organization whose home head-quarters in New Orleans, LA…Acorn came into the spotlight as Republicans began to cry foul…if you can imagine that. It is kind of like the pot calling the kettle ‘black’…if you get my drift.
Well, they called ‘foul’ because Acorn…which had opened up numerous offices around the United States…began organizing and registering voters on Obama’s behalf.
Following the Primaries the Republicans started accusing Acorn at that time of using false and fraudulent tactics as alleging that Acorn was registering dead people…etc..etc. And primarily these charges stemmed from actions in Florida.
Because Florida and Michigan chose to break a rule set up the Democratic Committee that no state should hold a primary before a specific date…which both the State of Florida and Michigan ignored. So, they therefore lost the right to participate in the Democratic Primary Presidential Election…the race between Obama and Hillary Clinton.
But within states around the country a group emerged called Acorn which 
began organizing the urban communities…gearing them up for the final showdown. The day in which Americans would entered into their ballot booths to cast their votes for who would become the President of this country for the next 4 years…of which Barack Obama won solidly over Bush.
Part 2 of my question…about Acorn and the questions surrounding its organization…and their current problems.
But it was during the days leading up the ballot day that a little known organization called Acorn began popping up in the news, as the Republicans began slinging shots…and trying to throw whatever punches they could at the Obama campagin.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/exponentialchange/gGglzC
To find out more about the rule that Florida and Michigan failed to abide by prior to the Democratic Primary read the LINK BELOW.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080331134815AAtAORo
This controversy about Acorn has been brewing for quite some time now. And of course, with Obama sweeping Nevanda, Colorado, New Mexico, California, Ohio, Virgina…and Florida… could the contention and rage over his win get any greater?
The Republicans have only been trying to discredit Obama in any 
matter and way they can…as proven by Joe Wilson’s rude outburst, which I wrote about in blog on civility. From trying to cliam that Obama is not legally an American citizen…to trying to disregard Hawai as being an offical state of this country (being the 
birthplace of Obama)…to trying to rig and provide false papers which they claim to be Obama’s African birth certificate. What they call…‘his real birth certificate.’
For years in this country black folks birth certificates have been messed with. From writing down things properly…to not properly recording them…to not properly keep up with our records. 
My birth name was messed up so bad…that my parents had to legally amend my birth certicate with a change of name shortly after my birth. Not to mention that my grand-mother went to her grave not knowing her correct birth date…as is the case with our Aunt Kate, who is still very much alive today. I suspect that if she were to seek public office in this country…she would have a real problem. Even though she was unquestionably born and raised here in America. But racist practices in properly documenting black folk in the existed then…and still do.
And such allegation concerning the legitimacy of Obama to President of this country…comes from a group of people who out and out st
ole the 2004 Presidential Election right out from under Al Gore, the Democratic opponent of George W. Bush. And it had been done illegally… bogusly… and without fear of any pentalty. They just did it…didn’t care who saw…who knew…or who didn’t know. And all of America knew…it was not hard to miss.
It had been the most outragous campaign of all times…and of any 
country. Which is why George W. Bush will certainly go down in history as a big fat question mark…for having been the most illegitimate President that the United States of America has ever had.
And what a joke that election was. What a farce. And for the first time in American History…as we know it…an illegitimate cadidate took possession of this country’s White House and made a mockery of our entire political system…and country.
And not only that…but sunk this country into the lowest levels of political integrity…moral standing…and financial lossess…coupled by a fraudulent war which he conjured up. A war which
has cost this country vast resources, lives…and a waste of our political time and efforts. A war that unleashed centuries of stored up hatred and antimosities…religious strife…and massive unrest in the Middle East.
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Nov09/0,4670,ObamaMajority,00.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93869921
http://www.presidentialelection.com/
During the 2004 it was widely known that the Republicans rigged the election…and hindered people in urbans from casting their votes. 
They had various voting locations declare some legitimate voters as being dead…and others as ex-convicts in order to stop them from voting…as well as, other such tricks. Such as, having voters stand for 
prolong periods of time out in the rain…provided urban areas with broken ballot machines…had women leave their pocketbooks outside…slowed up the balloting process that long lines gathered etc… All to deter voters for the Democratic Party. Not to mention the rigging of ballots…mis-counting of ballots…loosing and all those other in-side jobs which they easily arranged. …hinged ballots…
And this country sends people out to monitor the balloting procedures of other countries?
Going back to Acorn…having been under the fire for some time now…evidently their efforts were effective. The did manage to register some 1.3 million new voters. All the more reason why the other party would want to do away with them.
It kind of reminds me of when this country decided un the stern and 
ambiguous eye of the then House Leader, Newt Gingrich…who felt that the National Endowment of the Arts grants were to liberal in their giving out of funds. So, he moved to act 
upon limiting those funds from being given out to individuals…but to people like himself…and organization etc. Today, you hardly hear much about those funds…though they still are given out but in a very different way and under far different circumstances.
Today, when you hear this guy talk…he sounds more like a summer breeze…as opposed to that typhoon he used to be. I suspect that being taken down a notch or 2 can do that to you.
Now, definitely going back to Acorn.
It seems that some videographer enter into a couple of their offices for some reason or other. This videographer along with a women…that he or she brought with them. Supposedly, during these meetings the videograper was given by a worker…or workers at the organization (Acorn office)…to become not-for-profit and open up their own brothel…or in other words whore house…prostitution den.
Which if it is true…it would not reflect back on Obama…as he is not really tied to that organization other than it assisted in getting out the vote…which many other people also did too…and I was one of them.
However, in any office…supposed office…or business…or supposed busines you are subject to fall upon some type of illegal activity. Which does not necessarily mean that those in management or corporate heads know anything about. You can, in fact, find out about how to do all kinds of things while sitting in your workplace…including how to cheat on your husband or wife. There are crooket…and bad people everywhere. And they usually know right where to go…to run whatever game they are trying to run.
Recently, in my town they closed down a couple of used car dealerships…neither of which I believe had anything to do Obama…or his being elected President. But one was closed for selling drugs and using the dealership as front. And the other…I guess you could say they were in the money laundrying business…using their used cars to thash cash.
I suspect that if the Republicans could tie Obama to either of them…they would. And heavens forbide if somehow they could make a connect to both of them…and Obama.
I hope Obama didn’t happen to buy a car at either of those 2 dealerships. You know…like he bought his house. That was tied to some other alleged criminal.
Big Brother is watching.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,550602,00.html
Part of the problem is…is that the Republicans will not stop at nothing to get their candidates in. Nothing to taboo for them. They play a 
political anything goes game in order to win. They cross state lines…double and triple voting wherever they can. During the primaries they sign up as Indedpendants seek ing to swing elections towards cadidates that are weak and more favorable to them…in order to fix elections by giving their real cadidate of choice (a Republican) in the overall election a upper hand.
I have no doubt..that they have and continue to put people into place to do their will. People who operate as fake agents …or workers (if you will)…pertending to the opposite side. When in fact…they were plants (Republican plants)… who went under-cover…crossed over to the other side…to do fraudulent work…create false documents…and to put bogus names onto lists.
Hence, the real scandal…and the real cover-up.
Then the Republicans come around as they always do…wanting to look innocent…and appearing to be the squeaky clean whistle blowers. Crying ‘foul’…‘foul.’ When in fact…it is them who are the foul ones.
It is interest the way that the Republicans always seemed to know exactly what the problems are…and where they lay.
Why?
Because they put certain people into place to purposely cause the problems and issues…which they later turn around and begin pointing out as being fraudulent. These type of games are old…and go way back in history…where many of these very schemes were first hatched…by other other political crooks.
It is such a shame that such a group operates in this country…who are clearly anti-American when they indulge in such under-handed behavior…and deceitful practices.
Recently, Acorn has requested an independant investigation into the actions of some of their employees. The Senate to block the Housing and Urban Development from giving grants to Acorn, along with the U.S. Census Bureau had dropped Acorn and its involvement in the 2010 national census. And of course under these last allegation of being a training ground for how to own and operate your own brothel…the White House has been forced to also move away from Acorn.
I barely got any sleep last night.
Well, for one thing…I love my hair style so much that I am refusing to mess it up. Which means I have been trying to stay on my elbows since Saturday when I initially got the hair style.
And then the other reason is…is…
Well, those raccoons are back. Not that they ever left…as I have yet to have the money to seal up the roof. So, they are living in our attic.
But last night after getting in I stepped back out on the porch…and that is when I heard a noise. I thought it was pesty neighborhood cat…which sometimes sits upon our porch waiting on my neice’s cat to come out.
So, I picked up the water hose and sprayed some water over in the direction of the noice. And saw the thing move…and that is when I happened to catch a glimsp at what appeared to be 2 white circles around it’s eyes.
Not certain I went back into the house and got my flash light. I opened the screen-door and shot the light over into the far corner of my parent’s porch and there it was. Yes…a raccoon.
It seemed to be trying to hide. And appeared to indecisive.
So, I tried to talk it out of corner and off the porch…while I quickly punched in a call to our local police station. As I talked on my cell…the raccoon quietly left the porch. It seemed timid…mayold…possibly frighten. And I felt bad for her…or him…or whatever it was.
But they have got to go. The thing was huge…and I am not exegerating. I was at least a foot and half long…not including it’s big and long tail. And it was about a foot high in width.
No, that has got to go. No matter how bad I feel for it. I just don’t want them hurt. But I have got to get them out of our house and away from
our home. I have far too many young neices and nephews. And I would hate to see anything happen to any of them because I sat around doing nothing about our raccoon problem.
So, today I walked around the outside of our house checking to see exactly where it is that they are entering into and out of our property. It is via our roof. Some rotting has taken place along various portions of our roof. And as I walked around examing our weather beaten root… I was calling upon the name of Jesus.
Because those raccoons have got to go.
Well, hope you had a less eventful day and night.
http://www.animalcapture.com/pages/raccoons.htm
One thing I can say though…my neice’s cat is no fool.
The raccoon which had gotten into kitchen…when I initally realized we had a problem…she chased out that raccoon…and up the stairs back into the attic. But this raccoon…was much bigger than her. Though she did go out on the porch…she never approached that corner…and got low to the ground the whole time she was out there. And my neices cat is usually no j
oke…she is a real killer.
She must have been able to tell that that raccoon was a big one.
But I am going to have a talk with that…because she can’t be punking out on me.
And after I laid down and thought about…since I could not fall asleep. The thought came to me…that with all the hermones and everything else put into our food…it is little wonder that that raccoon was so big. She and others like her wander around the neighborhoods at night searching for scrapes to feed upon.
And if the chemical put into food…in order to make it grown 
bigger…get fatter…effects our bodies…and that of our children the way that it does. Then what about whatever else that feeds upon anything that we eat?
I can everything becoming super-sized. And I am not kidding.
You would have had to seen the size of that raccoon.
We all need to consider what it is that we are doing to this planet…our food…produce…water ways etc… And these animals are also being impacted by our lack of good judgement.
That thing was huge.
Oh, I know that some people believe they can escape to another planet. But I have always been told-
“That 1 bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.”
Just saw the below picture and just could not resist adding it. It is so beautiful. Put you in mind of what we are in store for next…by way of weather. I don’t know where you are…but it is cold here already.
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
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.
Add a comment September 17, 2009
Serena and Venus $50 mil…but not half of what they should… O’mama… Michelle…war…
While the Obamas have been taking Europe by storm 
the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena have been hard at it on the courts.
Just finished reading that between them Venus and Sererna have amassed 
over $50 million in tournament earnings. Wow…that really should 
motivate some people to get up and go out and learn how to play tennis…big time. However, as strong as they may be on the court the endorsement dollars still have not totally represented who they are and their standing in the tennis world.
Considering the fact that there are other players who have yet to see the 
type of wins and tournament money that Venus or Serena have managed to win…yet they have not been able to match their court success with bigger endorsement dollars…unlike some of their white counterparts.
For 
example Maria Sharapova reportedly has earned about $30 million in endorsements while having won only a mere $10+ million in tennis tournament money.
It seems to me that something is terribly wrong with that picture. Considering the fact that Serena Williams most recently became the highest grossing female athlete of all times. Based upon this fact alone the ad agencies and major companies should be running to her to sell or aid in branding their companies and/or products. But this is far from the case.
Perhaps, Venus and Serena aren’t complaining about it. Maybe through the years they have come to grips with the way the world is…and how it operates. But it is a shame that with all their skills and finesse upon the tennis courts…the mega ad deals and corporate sponsorships have not come their way. Clearly they have earned the right to reap the full benefits of their labor…not just the tournament wins…but lots more 
of that other money too.
In her joyous victory over Serena in the Women’s Final, Saturday, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus jumped for joy…she managed to do what many wish to do. She beat Serena. 6-1, 6-1.
Wow…what a lost.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Sport/Story/STIStory_360463.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/othersports/2008976683_digs03.html
This past weekend Serena and Venus had another finals show-down. Playing 
down in Florida in the Sony Erricsson tournament, They played hard…and in the end Serena won over Venus, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3…in the Women’s Semi-Finals.
It is amazing how they can compete against one another and not let it interfere with their love, appreciation and respect for 
one another. It is just amazing…truly in their own rights they are not only great sports women but also fantastic role models for how siblings should feel about and treat one another.
Oftentimes, when one isn’t playing…the other is up in the 
stands cheering on and rallying support for her sister…which ever one it may be whether she is awaiting her turn to play…or out of the tournament because she lost. As well as, their mother, Oracene, and other family members…including 
their father…who by this time has probably married his young girlfriend (that is in another blog along with a picture or 2). As he had planned their wedding for the end of March or sometime during the first of April.
Of which…being that the young woman isn’t much older than them…or somewhere near Venus’ age…and for other obvious reasons the girls…Venus and Serena were not quite tickled pink at the announcement that their father was heading to the altar with the young woman whom he has been seeing for some time now. And it seems that she loves to shop…which means…spending their money.
Mighty Michelle…that is the name that the folks abroad have dubbed
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her. She was indeed stunning…with beauty and brains to match it is hard to 
beat First Lady Michelle Obama. And with his hand in hers…and hers in his they looked liked 2 teenagers in love over in Europe.
It is marvelous to see a man and woman who obviously love each very much that every chance they get they find a way to 
connect themselves with one another.
The Queen too was smitten by the Obama aura…something which seems to have swept the world. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy loves him…and calls Obama friend.
Who would have thought that a man who many had debated whether he would 
be able to answer the call if a call came in the wee hours in 
morn concerning some type of U.S. calamity. They questioned his…what they called ‘his lack of experience.’ They questioned his ability to be able to handle foreign affairs…and how he would be able to handle himself around other world leaders.
Well, Obama put all those fears to rest this past week during 
his first visit to Europe for the G-20 Summit. For a guy who many scoffed at…and grinned over what they called ‘his lack of credentials.’ Told him that ‘he was wet behind the ears.’ I don’t know…but maybe that community organizing stuff that people laughed about paid off this past week…when Obama managed to mediate between a 
riff that developed between France and China during the summit…when both men became angry at one another and were nearly about to fight.
Obama not only managed to calm them both down but also got them talking and they came to some type of an agreement.
You know what?
There are benefits to learning how to work with people in the community 
that can really pay off when you come together with world leaders…and it is
called knowing how to break up a fight…how to negoiate…and things like that. You can’t learn that sitting in some office shoving papers all day and playing like politics is all there is.
Imagine…at his first time on the world stage as 
President of the United States, President Obama brokered a peace agreement between 2 nations…that were well on their way to disrupting the entire G-20 Summit by having a fist fight. That’s pretty good. Better than good…for a man who many questioned whether or not he was qualified.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D97AHEDG1.htm
At the location where I am currently working to launch my website…there is this guy name Josh, who coincidently shares my birth date…he was telling me the most interesting story about his little niece, who happens to be the apple of his eye. He says that every time she sees Obama on the television she begins pointing at the television screen saying gleefully-
“O’mama…O’mama…”
She is only about 2 years old…and can’t pronounce ‘Obama.’
Well, that will clearly change as she grows up. She will learn in history that one of them started the war and that other one put an end to it. As I am sure that the history books will be filled with information on the controversy that the Iraqi War brought not only to this country but around the world.
After 8 days of trying to re-new the spirit and trust of foreign leaders in this country…Obama paid a surprise visit to Iraq. There is something about going somewhere in order to get the full impact of the real situation. I found that out for myself following my mother’s passing.
I had relied upon others…my siblings…as we spoke on the phone or during my weekly visits home…which would always be on one of my days off from my job…but I depended upon others to be my source for what was happening at home…in the house with my father once my mother had passed. I never would have believed that the sources of my information were anything but truthful. It was not until I was forced to go home to stay amid my father being what literally amounted to kidnapped…by another sibling (who was more interested in his money than him)…that I found out the truth…and nothing but the truth…as it started to be revealed to me slowly over time.
Had I never been forced to return home…I would still be living in oblivion and listening to lies about what was really going on at home.
Going and seeing for himself…was something that yes…President Obama had to do. And judging by the pictures…the troops were happy to see him…greet him…and take pictures of him. All of which was something I never saw in any of the media stuff when Bush went to Iraq.
The job that those young people and others have been forced to do was 
huge and the outcome was never one that was going to be good. For one thing though no one says it…it was an act of aggression on the part of the George Bush Administration to initiate a strike against a country that posed no possible immediate threat or otherwise to us. Thus, there was and is no way that what started off as being bad in the first place could possibly be turned around…as nobody who lost their life…or a limb…or mental or physical state of being…or other problems or complications due to that war…there is never any way that they…or their families…or their love ones will ever be the same. Nor this country…but perhaps somebody thought this when we dropped that bomb on Hiroshima …and then on Nagasaki.
When President Harry Truman, in August of 1945, made the decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Like Bush…Truman had committed political suicide by believing war and killing people is the real show of power. Truman’s fear of communism…the Red Threat…and whatever else that was running through his head at the time…including like Bush…he too had a plunging voter approval rating.
It is interesting how past Presidents used war like some type of commodity to use at will…as a means of vamping up their voter approval. War to them has long been held as a means of engendering country loyalty and solidarity. And they used war also as a means of creating jobs…and all with little care for the lives these wars would exact in return.
The unleashing of the single most dangerous weapon known to all of mankind…the atomic bomb by Truman was the most atrocious thing that any country could do to any group of people. And from that time to this…this country has sought to wide the memory of it from history.
To view just DOUBLE CLICK the LINK BELOW…ignore the text.
It is my hope that such weapons are totally removed from society…as the technology is entirely too dangerous…to even be used as an energy source. And as it renders those countries which have it trying to monitor and prohibit others from obtaining it…which speaks to the fact that the world would be a far better place without nuclear weapons.
But I applaud President Obama for being strong willed about bringing to an end a war that never should have been started in the first place.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=53820
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/story/989579.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-obama-iraq8-2009apr08,0,642881.story
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090409/ap_on_re_af/piracy
I really do not know how long the Somali pirates believe that they can continue to interfere with the waterways by pirating ships?
At some point somebody…some country will not take it. And frankly, I do not believe that Obama is somebody to be played with. I know that there might be those of you who have a different opinion of him…but I can tell that he is nice and easy-going as long as you do not cross him. It was in the way he looked into the camera and kind of smiled one morning…though you knew he really wasn’t smiling…and then he said-
“Leave my wife and my children alone.”
You do remember that…that is when the Republican party during the campaigning period decided to go after Michelle Obama. Once Obama stared into that camera and said what he had to say…that campaign launched against Michelle Obama came to an abrupt halt. An immediate halt. I couldn’t blame them…you could tell that Obama meant business. And that is why I say-
“Obama is not a man to be played with.”
Yes, he can kid and joke with the best of them. But for anybody who believes there is not another side to him…look out. Everybody has another side…even me. And as kind as I am (lol)…I have scared my share of people…and
still do…when I have taken all that I was or am going to take.
It would be very foolish of the people of Somali to believe that the events that happened when that Black Hawk aircraft was shot down in their country years ago under Carter…will ever be allowed to be repeated again…with them dragging the bodies of Americans through their streets.
No…I don’t think so. America is not going to take that twice.
First Lady Obama, Michelle’s mother, Marian Robinson, is gracing the pages of Essence magazine. Didn’t like the make-up job though…or maybe it was the photoshop touch-up…but she is still beautiful. And Michelle 
looks just as beautiful sitting beside her mother.
I have said it before…and I am going to say it again.
“What a family.”
It is great to see the type of black families I have known all my life finally hit mainstream media in a continuous manner.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=12897430&ch=4226714&src=news
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090409/ap_on_re_us/meltdown_shriners_hospitals
I think that the above story is sad. The Shriners Hospitals are really just too valuable to allow them to close…even one of their facilities much less 5 of 
them. There must be someone who is capable of aiding them. The number of children who need special medical care is growing…and the Shriners Hospitals because they are made to service children their medical facilities are happier and brighter places for children who have to be hospitalized due to a variety illnesses and accidents…burn victims etc… And can provide them with long care treatment right in their hospitals.
I have a younger cousin who fell out of a 3 story window years ago. She had to spend a very long time in the Shriners Hospital here. The injury impacted her growth andshe had other medical problems which were brought about due to that 
fall. It caused her to have to stay there for quite a while. That hospital provided for her a happy atmosphere with a great team of care providers who really know how to deal with every need of children from fear…to tears.
There have often been times when I wished I had money…so I could give it away. This is one of those times. I would give it to them.
I never knew that they offered their services for free. Wow…all the more 
reason to give.
If you would like to make a donation or contribution…you can do so via their website… http://www.shrinershq.org/
Or by contacting: Shriners International Headquarters
2900 Rocky Point Dr. Tampa, FL 33607
813.281.0300
Well, today is so beautiful…that I shouldn’t even tell you about it. But just keep it to myself…and not share it with anyone…as if I could bottle it up and store it somewhere.
Was in New York yesterday. Bought some things for Easter. I decided that I wanted something new and springy. So, I settled on something yellow and can’t wait to get my hair done and put on my new earrings and new wears.
I am looking forward to Easter…not because I want to show off some new clothes…but because I am just so thankful that God loved us enough to endow us with a special gift…his son. And that his son in turn loved us so much…that he laid down his life that we might live…might walk in liberty and free from the yokes and bondage of all the things we once allowed to hold us hostage. And if you did not understand that…you should get yourself a Bible and begin to search it out for yourself. It is something that I am still doing…and have no doubt that I will be doing for the rest of my life. Continuing to read and search it out for myself.
Well, enjoy your Easter…remember Him and eat an 
Easter egg for me.
And to all of those of you abroad serving this country with pride and dignity…I wish you well. And with God’s speed hopefully you will soon be home.
Well, it is just about Easter…
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
Add a comment April 10, 2009
No, on nuclear weapons… Obama ideology…
At last a person in power who is not afraid to say-
“The world is not a safer place and will never be a safer place with one country pointing a deadly weapon at another.”
Two semesters ago while in my “Just War Theory” class we had several conversations on nuclear weapons. In those classes I was in constant dispute over the legitimacy of the argument that war could ever be deterred simply by the super world powers both pointing nuclear weapons at each other. Simply, because that alone would be enough to keep each of the powers from engaging in dangerous acts of aggression…or any acts that could be perceived as acts of aggression which might bring about war between them.
I felt it was foolish to believe that because the major super powers of this world having nuclear weapons meant that the world would be a safer place simply because neither would dare chose to start a war against the other based upon their equal nuclear capabilities. I thought 
then while sitting in that class and still do…that that kind of thinking was irrational and certainly not reality based.
I also felt that if having nuclear war power was such a good idea then why was it so important to keep it out of the hands of other countries?
If they truly believed the hypothesis of the world being safer because the 2 hedgemons had the power to destroy each other and the world…then certainly the world would not be so desperate to keep such weapons out of the hands of certain countries and other governments.
They voice their opinion on the matter as if everybody pointing nuclear war heads at each other… would prohibit anybody from wanting to start anything with another country with the same capabilities for fear of the others with the same deadly weapons. It just goes to prove how flawed that widely held ideology was…and is.
It is unconscionable that scholars and scientist would have even written so many letters and 
publications in favor of such backward thinking. Without a doubt many of them were probably on the payroll of some of the large weapon contractors of this country. Therefore, they were eager to get many behind them with such thinking. And many have and still do eat up that train of thought…including past Presidents of this country.
The world could never be a safer place if everybody…every state…and rouge state…had the capabilities to launch nuclear weapons. Which is why this country and most other nations have aggressively been opposed to North Korea and its attempts to advance itself nuclearly.
As well as, keeping watchful eyes upon Pakistan and India…as both countries also possess nuclear weapons…and their continued border disputes through many years of conflict has provided an unstable atmosphere for 2 countries that possess such highly deadly weapons. And there lingers over them both a fear that one day 1 or the other make strike at the other using their weapson of mass destruction.
All it takes is one insane person to put us all in jeopardy. Therefore, nuclear weapons are just too deadly and dangerous for any country to have them. And nuclear energy is not safe…as it poses just as much environmental danger. It is just the nature of the beast…and there is no getting around it. It is just too unstable and dangerous to man in any form or use.
http://news.aol.com/article/nkorean-missile-launch-tests-obama/297401?cid=9
Thus, the continued discussions and arguments on nuclear weapons has gone on since the time that the atomic bomb was first created by the splitting of that atom. Though many have long feared the dangers of having such weapons…they were not, however, the ones in power. Nor 
did they have the numbers of those who believed that nations pointing nuclear warheads at one another would offer enough defense against nuclear war.
What absolute and backward thinking.
If we lived in a world of all rational people…perhaps such ideology could possibly prove true.
But the problem with the concept of the hedgemons or anyone else pointing weapons at each as a deternant to war…maybe during the Cold War but the world no longer had 2 super powers any longer…but 1…and a lot of little chiefs looking to make their mark, as well.
When Russia lost many of the countries which used to be under its control…becoming independent nations…then came upon the scene also the emergents of rouge states…religious lunatics…and egomanics that entered into power in various countries around the world. The world very much has changed. But even if it had not that old ideology of deadly, dangerous, mass destroying weapons pointed at each other…was riddled with plenty of false thinking upon that thinking first coming upon the horizon.
Because human beings coming into power…all are flawed. Even men of this country…wheeling power recklessly…and without consideration of anything other than their own will. They are dangerous. They are not rational thinking people…rage is a highly dangerous thing…as well as…pride. And when acting under the cloud of anger or pride…they do not think properly…and some are just plain crazy anyhow.
So, Barack Obama has the right understanding of the real situation…that
many have long held…those who sat in the oposing camp ut were far less in numbers than those who believed that having such dangerous weapons would be 
enough deternant to deter war. At last a rational thinking person heading the strongest world power…at the head of a super state…who does not believe that a bunch of armed people all around the world pointing weapons at each other is a sign of a safe place…or safe world.
This is a change that the world has long hungered for.
Bravo!
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090405/video/vwl-barack-obama-outlines-the-nuclear-th-15af341.html
http://news.aol.com/main/obama-presidency/article/obama-nuclear-weapons/412784?feeddeeplinkNum=0
I am thinking about the sacrifice of God by giving to the world something that was so precious to Him…his son. And the sacrifice of His son for all of us…by laying down his life…that we all might live…and walk in the light no longer held captives.
Well, it is just about Easter…today is Palm Sunday. Hope you have a beautiful day. The sun is shinning and it is beautiful here. And I hope there too…where you are.
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
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1 comment April 5, 2009
South Carolina Gov Stonewalling… Iraqi War 6th year… baby boom in white America…
Leave it to a Republican to try and throw a wrench into the works. That South Carolina Governor really 
should consider his actions before he walks around trying to sound tough.
He claims that unless the Obama Administration allows him to do what he 
wants with the money to be allocated to his state…he won’t take the money…none of it. Well, isn’t that just like a Republican?
No consideration to his state…but only to his will to do what he wants. And undoubtedly he is hoping that other governors will follow suit.
But let us examine the state allocations of the Obama stimulus plan…
1. $53.6 billion to help state budgets
2. with 82% to be used for public schools and colleges
3. and 18% on public safety and other government services
So, what is the problem?
I do not see anything wrong with that. It is putting the money in some areas where it is definitely needed to be placed. Schools everywhere are suffering…the state infrastructure…okay.
But the South Carolina Governor wants to take South Carolina’s share of the stimulus and pay down South Carolina’s debt rather than taking the money allocated by the federal government…earmarked for health care, jobs and schools. For which he is playing politics…saying if he can’t do with the money as he wants he will decline to accept it at all.
Talk about cutting off the nose of South Carolina in spite of its face. Perhaps, if it were his personal nose the Governor of South Carolina would not be so quick to say ‘no’ to those funds.
The Democratic National Committee in an effort to inform the good people of South Carolina about the deed of their dearly beloveth Governor…began running ads on the matter. For which the Republican governor called ‘foul’…saying that he thought the Obama Administration was not going to play politics as usual.
Those Republicans can always think of things when it suits their own purposes. Those people in South Carolina deserve to know the kind of fool they have running their state…and it is about time that Democrats have started standing up.
I sincerely applaud the Obama Administration concerning the matter…and taking their stance on the matter of not allowing anyone to bully them. It is about time some Democrats with backbone finally got into some positions of real power…and used it.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090316/ap_on_re_us/sc_stimulus_sanford
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=12516236&src=news
In Willamina, Oregon, the school board is planning of distributing birth control pills to the teens 
in their high school. Following what they call an outbreak in the increase of pregnancy in Willamina. With fewer than 300 students in their high school system…they had 5 senior girls who gave birth to babies this year with another 9 girls on their way to the maternity ward. So, feeling helpless and lost in a vote of 2-2 the school board was split on whether or not to start passing out birth control pills.
This to me is tantamount to an ostrich putting its head into the ground.
Now, not only an urban problem…the problem of teenage pregnancy is hitting the white suburbs 
with a bang. After all…remember Sarah Palin and her 17 year old daughter…all the way up there in Alaska…facing the same issue. When this issue was one confronting poor people…and mostly non-whites…the issue was lightly 
overlooked…much like the issue of drugs and AIDS used to be…in the beginning…when it only affected the ‘thems’…’those people over there…in the ghetto.’
It seems that when certain issues only affect certain people…nearly everybody in this country finds little effort in turning a blind eye to it and on them…just as long as those issues continue impacting certain people. But like those teens in Massachusetts who made the pact to get pregnant…as if having a baby is a game…which sparked momentary conversations but that was it…don’t let it start hitting them.
But…what?
The lily white areas of Oregon now too?
And evidently…Alaska as well.
Well, now…now…now something really must be done…now.
http://www.kgw.com/education/localeducation/stories/kgw_031209_education_birth_control.2a07e217.html
http://www.newsregister.com/article/37963-willamina+balks+contraception
http://www.kptv.com/news/18919608/detail.html
Today is the 6th anniversary of the Iraq War.
Thank God…for a change.
Six years of suffering and dying…all for what?
What in this world has changed for the better since Bush and his friends decided they were going to strike Iraq?
Nothing.
In fact, things have gotten worst…and in a big way. Everything is costing us far more today than what it did 6 years ago. Many people have lost a son or daughter, niece or nephew…or grand child due to a senseless war that has accomplished nothing but caused more problems…hardships…pain…and hurt in the lives of people around this world…not just here in America.
Well, here is a story for you. This story below is worth reading for all of those starving for love…but looking in all the wrong places.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090316/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_nigeria_australia_scam
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
Add a comment March 16, 2009
$789 Billion reached… its February…
At last they have reached an agreement on the stimulus bill which will 
hopefully create jobs and get this economy back up and running. Though I must admit to not being one of those who was hit by the problems going on with the economy…I must always say that I am concerned about others.
Many people did suffer and are suffering because the economy took a deep plunge under George W. Bush. I doubt whether gasoline prices will ever get back down to $.99…but it would be nice.
Wouldn’t it?
We take so much for granted until it is gone. We never knew just how good we had it until gas prices at the pump started getting over 
$3.00…and when they neared $4.00…and did hit $4.00 and over in some places…we suddenly realized the party was over.
Food prices went up…everything…you name it and it all went up…due to some lousy war in Iraq that nobody wanted in the first place but George Bush and his people. If the after-effect could have been seen before hand I doubt that little ol’ George would have stood a chance at getting that war started. Well…maybe I should take that back.
The fact is…is that there were some pretty greedy people pushing for that war. You saw them at the Republican National 
Convention…they were holding up signs that read ‘prosperity.’
You do remember seeing those signs all actively displayed around the
Republican National Convention floor this past August? Many of those very people realized what the outcome was going to be…long before hand. In fact, they were hoping for it.and began buying like crazy whatever they could on the stock market. They care about nothing… but… prosperity …at any cost.
They went into the stock market and started buying up everything that had to do with heating, utility companies, insulating, home improving, coal mining, oil drilling, trucking, food…etc. Oh, they saw it coming…and they knew it would come big. So, what did they do…they pushed for the war.
They were going to go into Iraq and squander it…rob it…pillage it…destroy those museums and take every artifact, painting, golden vessel and piece of pottery they could find…and smuggle it out of that country.
Then they were going to set themselves up as the saviors and peacekeepers of the place…while all the while looting it and the American taxpayers too with bogus invoices…and double billing ploys…while thousands of American people innocent sons and daughters lost their lives fighting in a senseless war brought about by greed.
It did not make sense for the United States of America to arbitrarily begin a preempted strike on Iraq…when all the world was against it
and most of the American people. Iraq had not done anything to us. Nor were we under threat by them.
What?
For a man and his 2 sons. Two ton bombs were unleashed upon those people, their homes, their businesses, their infrastructure, their schools 
etc…night after night upon building after building.
That could not have been about Saddam Hussein and his 2 boys. It was
greater than them…it had to be. The expense and tally was too great to just desire to depose a tyrant and his sons.
Could it have all been for profit?
As Barack Obama came into office as President of the United States…72 hours later Blackwater pulled out of Iraq…and the others are following. And a country is being left in devastation.
I have heard somewhere about how ‘leaving something in a better state 
than when you found it.’
The state of the Iraqi people has 
changed…but many would argue whether or not it is a better state than when George Bush and his boys went into it.
So, yes…I am happy that the Senate has finally stopped hemming and hawing. Everybody is trying to make some points…it is so…so…like politicians. The Republicans held it up…so the Democrats couldn’t get the credit…when they knew all the time that they were going to have to pass the stimulus package or else face the music again come another election period.
You would think those dog gone Republicans would learn.
They can stop the band…but they can’t stop the music.
Hooray, for the passage of Obama’s stimulus package. Now, maybe some of these companies will not have to continue to lay people off or fire them. Jobs are very much needed…they help to pay the bills. And they are good when you want to go somewhere…you’ll have money to do it with.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/congress_stimulus
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/us/politics/12stimulus.html_r=1&hp
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=11990303&ch=4226716&src=news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3089379.stm
Well, First Lady Michelle Obama will grace the cover of Vogue magazine next month (March)…making her only the 2nd First Lady to do so.
I have been trying to find a picture somewhere on the internet…but alas…to no avail.
I has to be out on newsstands by now…not to mention out in the mailboxes of thousands who subscribe.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/10/AR2009021001579.html?hpid=topnews
February is just one of those months…I suppose that much of it has to do with the passing of my mother during the first of this month some years ago…as to why I tend to be quiet and rarely have much to say. I had been wondering why I had so much to do…and seemed to not want to do any of it. I had forgotten that it was February.
Even with these blogs by this time during a regular month I would have done at least 4 to 5 of them already…but this is only my second since the month
has begun. Oh, I am not as bad as I used to be…there was a time not so long ago either that every month and every day was just like the day she had passed. Even my being able to form and shape the word ‘passed’…in my mouth or mind in connection to my mother is something new for me. I could never put the 2 words together…‘she passed’ for years upon years.
I never wanted to accept that she was…was…was gone.
I am who I am because I was given the very best of everything by God. I had the best mother…and the best father.
My parents never discussed with me the fact that I was gay. There was never a mention of it…though they knew. I had bought most of my girlfriends by the house…so, they had met some of them. But they never discussed anything about gayness or gay people with me. They never called anyone names…or talked negatively about anything.
When I called home from Chicago…to tell my mother that I was pregnant. Yes…gay me…pregnant. It is a rather long story…but in short it happened because I became depressed over loosing a lover. I began thinking that maybe the life (gay life) was not for me. So, I decided I would try the other side. And the one time I did…BAM. I was pregnant.
Being gay I was very naive about straight life. I would have never have thought about protection or anything like that…because… Well, because I had never had a boyfriend…and had never dated in my life until I got into gay life…which was sometime during the age of 25. And I had my son when I was 28.
I must say that I am a strong advocate for ‘pro-choice.’ Without choice I may have chosen differently. I did think about abortion…even called 
the abortion hotline. But when that lady started talking about ‘full anesthesia’ or ‘partial anesthesia.’ And I thought if it was going to hurt either way…then I might as well have the baby.
So, much for my analytical process at that time. But I thank God…I made the right choice. I could not image life without my son…who is the best thing that ever happened to me. And he is definitely a far better person than his mother…honestly.
So, I called home and I tell my mother. I don’t even know what I said…or how I phrased it or whether I just came right out and said it. Nor can I remember what my mother said to me upon hearing that. I am sure that perhaps she may have believed that I might not ever have any children…as I was gay.
Nor can I remember how long it took me to pick up the phone to call my parents to tell them that I was pregnant. I had to have been months…because I knew that they would be disappointed.
But I remember what my father said upon my arrival home during my 7th month of pregnancy…after my mother had sent one of my sisters to Chicago to bring me home.
My father said-
“Now, you will never be alone.”
That was the extent of it.
“Now, you will never be alone.”
He was right. I am not alone. I am now the matriarch of our family…which continues to grow even in their absence. And they would proud.
But during the entire period of my mother’s lifetime…I had never shown 
much interest as an older child or an adult child in church or church matters. I rarely went…and was so happy when I finally moved out of my parent’s house…just so I wouldn’t have to continue going to church.
Today, the church is my whole focus. I can’t imagine what my mother would say. But I know she would smile and be happy. Because it is true…it is what you put into your children that matters. Yes, they may wander but somehow…what was pour into them when they were young will surface in their lives at some point.
It’s February…Black History Month…and as tears stream out of my 
eyes as I write this thinking about my mother. I am so thankful for those who walked before us…they poured something in…and today it has surfaced. Many years of insults and 
degradation. But today…the number one person in the world is a black man. I am so happy…that my nieces, my nephews…my
son…and us…we are all here to bare witness to this time in American History.
Pictured above is…the grave stone of Benjamin Banneker, Dr. Charles Drew and Dr. George Washington Carver. You can CLICK on the LINK right below to find out as to who they are, their accomplishments and those of other black people in American History.
It is February…
The weather has broken for a spell…and we are getting a break from the 
cold…the ice and the snow. The sun has been shining for the past 2 days so lots of snow has been melting. But today…was absolutely beautiful. It felt like spring. And the house has not been quite as cold. I look forward to spring…I actually love all the seasons. Winter…spring…summer…and fall…
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
CLICK LINK BELOVE to trailer to Michael Moore’s lastest film on the bank bailout.
http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-trailers/?g=f359d88a-4848-43c3-be13-bf505c57cc30>1=28101
Add a comment February 12, 2009
Trying to keep warm…
As I lay here trying to keep warm…and happy about not having to go outside 
and shovel any more snow. But I love it.
I am so thankful that my parent’s house is still standing…that water is not leaking down through the roof…that the raccoons are blocked off from traveling downstairs to meet me in our back hallway…and that God blocked my parent’s house from going up on the auction block earlier this year in March.
I have much to be thankful for…including not having suffered what I 
thought was an on-coming stroke or heart attack last week when my right hand started shaking very badly, and then just froze up on me. And ultimately forced me to 
have to rush from my class to go directly to a hospital emergency room.
But after having endured that…this past weekend I was out shoveling snow straight up to the day before yesterday. We are buried in it. And I
am loving every minute of it…and I am so blessed not to have to be spending my holidays in a hospital.
Though the weather is cold…freeeeezzzing to be exact. It looks pretty. No, beautiful to me…because if I take a notion…I can get up and go outside and walk through it…when I know that I should not be able to do so.
But in regards to my warmth…I keep looking at our fireplace wishing I could make a big bustling fire in it. But I am afraid of risking starting a fire in the wall of the chimney since we haven’t used it or had it cleaned out for a while. But a big bright and warm fireplace lighting up our living room would be nice…and especially on days like this. And even more especially since the furnace is still not fixed.
So, yes the house is cold…but not as cold as it should or even could be. Though the oven is on (and I am being very careful monitoring it)…and most of the doors are closed to block off the cold. And I do have a portable electric heater (which I am also keeping a close eye on) which you really have do when you run electrical items overtime. And then on top of it all…I still have hot water.
So, I’m doing pretty good. Thank God for the hot water.
And believe me having hot water is important.
I will not forget how last year this time I was almost in the same situation though the circumstances were different. From August straight through the 1st of January we had no gas. This meant that there was not any hot water either…which is a very hard situation…and particularly for women. Because unlike men…women must bathe. Washing up is okay…but it is not the same. And to do it for months…in freezing cold water…
Well, let me just say it again…women must bathe.
So, I was forced to have to bathe in freezing cold 2 times a day…once in 
the morning before leaving out from the house and again once I got back in. And this I did religously in the freezing cold of the house…and cold water only gets colder as it runs. It was quite quite quite freeeezzzing cold. In fact, it was far colder inside our house than it was at any point outside of it.
I know I was miserable during all those days. But thank God…He brought me through it. And I got through it without a sniffle or a sneeze.
And so though I can’t light a fire in our fireplace…I am not as cold as I should be either…and no where near as cold as I was in this house last year.
I 
am blessed.
And I am finally finished with all my classes and their assignments…I got everything in even though at times my right hand continued to occasionally act up. But I 
made it through…and yesterday I returned to the school library 2 books that I owed them.
So, I am in the house for the duration of the holiday…short of having to go back out to shovel more snow…or throw down some more salt if it gets slippery again.
I can’t imagine what the temperture outside is today. But I know it is in the low something. It looks very cold and dark outside. There is no sun anywhere to be found…nothing but snow upon snow.
It is like a freezer outside. So, I am inside…trying to keep warm. But I am loving it…because God has been good to me.
Remember those who have less than you and who may or may not have a roof over their heads…or a car in their garage…or food in their refrigerator…or in their pantry…or a coat to put on…or electricity…or gas to heat their home. Let us pray for them…and keep them lifted up in our prayers throughout the year. They would love to be in my situation I have no doubt. So, I have nothing to complain about. I’m blessed.
Yes, I am blessed…and very highly favored. And I thank God for His ever loving mercies.
So, whatever your holiday plans are…be careful and enjoy those whom you love. And may God grant you to step into a wonderful 2009. I am looking forward to it…and all the God has in store for me.
And always be mindful…that there is nothing like family. And nothing at all like a good family…definitely worth more than gold.
We pray also for family unity…unity from this point on…in Jesus’ name.
God bless….Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
And may your Santa give you exactly and everything that you are hoping and looking for.
Praise ye the Lord…for He is mighty in all things. And I am sure He has so much more for you…in 2009.
Well, God bless…and thanks for reading this blog…and 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 ©2008
Double CLICK the screen above in order to view the second video…ignor the text on the screen monitor
Happy holidays…and may God richly bless you too.
Just DOUBLE CLICK the screen to view the above video.
Add a comment December 24, 2008
Leaking tanks and FEMA… more FEMA problems
What is it with 
FEMA?
For FEMA to be a government agency it seems to be littered with such managerial problems.
First the contaminated Katrina trailers…now over 270 fuel tanks with thousands of gallons of fuel which are stored both underground and some above…could be leaking fuel both into the soil and water…causing yet more FEMA contamination problems…but this around the country.
We could all come face to face with this FEMA problem…as it could become a national problem. Because those tanks have been placed all around the United States.
How is it that this organization…FEMA could go all these years with a nonchalant attitude concerning these tanks and their possible hazards to us all?
How can it be that they were so irresponsible in the maintainance and c
are of these tanks?
These tankers store up to 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel or as much as 10,000 gallons in gasoline…and they were placed around the country in various locations during the Cold War.
Can you remember when that was?
It was during the 60’s and we are now nearing the end of 2008. So, if you do the math that is…huh?
Huh?
Nearly 50 years ago…depending upon when in the 60’s these tanks were either laid in the grou
nd or stored otherwise.
A statement released said that FEMA needed to inspect these tanks for possible leaks of hazardous substances that make local drinking water undrinkable.
Unbelieveable. And it has been a problem long seen by the FEMA people and other government officials as a looming potential problem. Yet no attention as been paid to it.
It is the same “I could care less” attitude that FEMA had when it knew that it was giving out contaminated housing to the Katrina victims…but they could have cared less. FEMA gave them those highly formaldehyde poisoned trailers knowingly and never looked back.
And we pay these people with our tax dollars?????
This problem can create mammouth and irreversible health issues. Leaks can lead to higher risk of cancer, kidney damage and nervous system disorders…which they will, of course, claim that the illness could not be tied to the leaks…because maybe your family was predisposed to the illness based upon your family history.
Yeah, and I guess so…since nobody every told you that there were FEMA fuel tanks buried somewhere near your family home for nearly 50 years. And you were wondering why everybody was coming down with cancer or some type of serious disorder.
A single gallon of fuel can contaminate 1 million gallons of water.
This is serious business…and we all need to be made aware…and stay on top of this story.
CLICK BELOW to read more on this story.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080812/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/leaking_fuel_tanks
God bless… www.bsmith101.wordpress.com pass it on… ©2008
Add a comment August 13, 2008
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