Posts filed under: ‘The Bishop’s Wife‘
The Pavilion Book Expo… THE BISHOP’S WIFE…
Pull all these book promos because I liked them… and at the time I was trying to decide just how to go about producing 1 myself. I am 1 of 
those people who likes to look and see what everybody else is doing… then decide upon how I’m going to do it.
When it came to creating the cover for my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE, I went to Barnes&Nobles and walked around just looking at the book covers trying to decide which grabbed my attention the most and why? Then I went home and began creating…
For the past 2 or 3 years I have been contacted by the America Book Expo about taking part in their event. It is costly but a fellow author-girl, forgot her name… but she has several books out and a great website…forgot that too… but it is her name Tracie something or other .com… I think. Well, she told me that she is there every year passing out her books. She says you really go there to sell… but to make contacts. Plus the libraries attend purchasing books for their shelves. Maybe next 
year who knows… I would really love to do it.
Right now THE BISHOP’S WIFE may not be a best seller but my sells are picking up. I do receive royalty checks. And I have sold a lot of books over this site… which is why I first started writing a blog in the first place.
So, I guess my efforts paid off. Then I kind of liked writing on this site… it gives me an outlet to express my opinions, thoughts… and feelings on various topics and issues as they pop up. And I kind of lot having my say and not having anybody to tell me I can’t.
I get asked often about promotions and self-publishing. One thing I can tell you for sure and that is that there are a lot of free avenues for you to exhaust before you start thinking about shelling out that big dough to all those different publishing 
companies who make you a lot of empty promises. Social media is free exploit it… it can get you out there, and that is exactly what you need… to get out there. And there are a lot of ways you can do it… and it can work for you if you are smart, aggressive and diligent.
And yes, writing a book is very much like going into business. You have to push it… A business can’t run by itself… and neither can your book. It goes way beyond just having a few pages printed up.
At any rate… here are a few of my book promos along with some other author’s book promos… and some footage from the Pavilion Book Expo…
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 April 30, 2013
Sandusky…abuser, liar, sodomite and destoryer of young boys… and Herman Cain…
Yesterday I read that Sandusky’s lawyers released to the press that the young men coming out against Penn State ex-coach Jerry Sandusky were not victims… but people who were coming forth ‘for the money.’
And you know what?
Oftentimes, victims do come forward for the money. Sometimes it might move some who would not step forward otherwise. But regards victims… are victims. Sandusky used his power, position and a shaddy charity to take advantage sexually of very young boys. They deserved to make him pay.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/13/9413485-sandusky-waives-hearing-moves-case-toward-trial
What a crazy statement to make. Money can’t undo what Sandusky has done.
Of course they should come forth…but all the money
in the world will never change what was stolen from those young boys. They are due whatever financial compensation they can get.
But it will never be enough.
Money cannot recover your manhood.
Money cannot restore your innocence.
Money cannot remove the guilt you feel as a child when someone violates you.
Money cannot replace that which was stolen.
Nor can money reclaim that which was eroded and may have been destoryed inside those young boys, when someone enters you into something you are too young to even understand.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/penn-state-jerry-sandusky-accuser-ready-set-record/story?id=15140589
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/12/sandusky-a-classic-story-line-that-players-cannot-/
There is no doubt that the man was… or is a pedophile. He destoryed lives… and 
people knew about it and turned blinded eyes on it. They should all go down.
It was criminal. And no one reported it.
In this kind of thing …and for the number of years that Sandusky had been involved with young children… I am sure that there are many more victims. And if the truth be told… I believe that Jerry probably had a few of his friends involved in it too.
Truthfully, it would not surprise me if a ring of pedophiles becomes exposed before this whole story wraps up. A ring of others involved that includes other football personnel from Penn State… and professional staff… and possibly even players on the Penn State teams too.
The world of pedophiles is very large… and encompasses all kinds of unsuspecting people. Men from all walks of life… who love little boys… and the younger the better.
N.A.M.B.L.E.R. is a national association of men who seek out young boys for sex. In fact its initals stand for National Association of Men and Boys etc… etc… This organization is large. And their motto is ‘eight is too late.’
Sick isn’t it?
In reading some of the articles that are now surfacing on this story about complaints against Sandusky at least 1 mother some time ago contacted Penn State… when her son came home with wet hair. She called the campus officals complaining that Sandusky had done something to her son. So for some time the powers that be upon the campus of Penn State knew. Not only did they know but they also allowed Sandusky to do his thing in their locker rooms and showers upon their campus… 
knowing what he was doing. And they never tried to stop him.
In almost all cases of predators… whether a school teacher, coach, Boys Scout leader, preacher, priest etc… they seek out victims of a certain nature. Usually children without a father… or come from troubled homes… underprivilged and/or minority children etc. Children who cannot help themselves …or come from parents who do not have resources. And so it was with Sandusky… and his fake little organization that had been supposedly set up to aid underpriviledge children.
In reading the Washington Times article on this story… it states that Sandusky lived only a mile away from an elementary school. People who are into children sexually… try to get as close to them as many ways as possible.
I recall as little child when walking to school how the cars were lined up just a little beyond the school yard… with white men trying to intrigue us into their cars. And I say ‘white men’ because I cannot remember seeing any vehicles with black men or any other race doing it. But I do know that all races have sexual offenders …and those who seek out little children.
Because even though the cars awaiting us on our school block just outside of our school yard were white men… I had encounter Hispanic men… and black men quilty of doing the same… trying to entice little children to lure them into sex. I eventually did become 1 of them that got lured.
But once while working in Jersey… I was on the bus riding somewhere in Newark when I happened to glance out the window. I saw a black man in the broad daylight… in the middle of people on the sidewalk. There he was with his penis in his hand following behind this very young little girl… who trying to escape him ran into a corner store. And that man went into the store right behind her… with his penis still in his hand.
That scene shocked me. I often lament that I did not get off that bus and go back to help that little girl. That thought of her …that little girl and that …and that MAN stays in my mind. And I will forever regret not getting off that bus.
Men travel all over the world to places where they can indulge with very young girls and boys freely. The child sex trade is big… and I guess exploding. So many poor children around the globe are being exploited 
everywhere… even in this country for money. Some given up by their own parents in exchange for drugs and alochol …and/or cigarettes. And in poorer countries in exchange for food, housing or whatever else the sale of their little child can bring.
What a curel world.
Sandusky threw himself into things which gave him massive access to a lot of little boys. Even in the founding of an organization that was supposedly set up to help and aid underprivilged children, Sandusky put himself in an arena that availed more and more little boys to him. So much so that his organization somehow got parents to allow their sons to go and stay in his home with him and his wife.
And speaking of Sandusky’s wife… of course she had to come out finally …claiming that she knew nothing. She knew.
At least 1 victim alleged that he cried out for her to help him… and she did nothing. Sandusky’s wife would be party to Sandusky’s crimes if she did claim that she knew. But there is no way that she could not have known… especially since so many others did… and so much of it took place within their own home. And it appears that after a point the man began to feel that he was untouchable.
When the charges started surfacing… what did Sandusky do?
He called some of his victims to come and have dinner with him. Who does that?
The next thing that he lawyers are going to claim is that Sandusky is insane… and probably that he was a victim of abuse himself. They always play those same game cards. If they can’t see where they can win the cases 1 way… lawyers shift their game play and start saying ‘he couldn’t help himself.’ ‘He was under great strain.’ ‘His father never loved him’… and used to abuse him… or the man down the street… or his uncle. The story is always the same.
But if this were true than everyone would be a perpetrator… a pedophile… a sexual 
predator… an abuser of women, children and/or boys. But this is not so. And most people in some way or other have been abused.
If you remember John Gacy… the mass murder years ago from Chicago or a suburb outside of Chicago. He was a contractor who used to dress up as a clown and perform at all kinds of chartities, parades, kiddie parties etc. When a 15 year old turned up missing they discovered that Gacy had not only abducted him but killed him too. They found that Gacy had done the same to many other young boys …all of whom they discovered were buried behind the walls and under the floor broads of Gacy’s home.
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/gacy/gacy_1.html
We would all say that such a man must have been crazy.
How could he have done what he had done?
And then to have buried those boys… more than 13 of them within the framework of his own home.
Now, that sounds crazy. But he was smart enough to continue to do what he had been doing for years. And who knows how long really that John Gacy had been raping and killing young boys before he thought about deposing of their bodies within the walls and floors of his own home?
Sandusky may look crazy now… and I would
want to look crazy too if I thought I was faced with the rest of my life behind bars. But while he was grabbing a hold of those 10 and 11 year old boys… he wasn’t crazy. He was enjoying it… and worst of all he thought himself smart.
Didn’t say much about it… but it did not get pass me.
That Herman Cain was a real joke.
For a while it looked like the Republicans had decided to run a supposed ‘black man’ 
against President Obama. Now, that would have really have been a joke if they could have mustered it. But poor ol’ Herman had too many ghost in his closet.
The first thing I would like to look at regarding Herman Cain is why?
Why would you even think about running for President of the United States knowing what Herman knew?
Herman knew that he had a problem keeping his hands to himself.
Speaking of which… I have decided that I have really got to talk to some guy myself.
Not Herman but somebody just like him.
Everytime I see this guy he has got to embrace me… and kiss me. I do not like it.
A couple of years I stopped the guy as he reached for me… saying ‘no.’ And I told him that I only wanted him to shake my hand if he had to make contact with me.
This I did… and I did write about this situation in a prior blog of mine. I did this after I was standing in a bank line …and the guy seeing me stepped into the bank, and then commenced to plant a kiss on the back of my neck.
Are you kidding me???????
At first it did not hit me… but when it did I was livid.
How dare that man sneak up behind me and kiss me on my neck …like he and I had something going on. Nothing could be further from the truth… but anybody witnessing that would have believed otherwise. The Bible tells us that we have to forsake even the illusion of un-holiness.
So, the very next time I saw the guy… here he came again reaching for me… and I stopped him. And I told him ‘no’ …and I broke it down for him believing I had settled that matter. And I had.
But it seems that he has totally forgotten that conversation these days.
If somebody told me that something I was doing made them uncomfortable… I would cease to do it. I respect other people’s space. But it seems that many people do not. And 
when it comes to men and women… men lack a lot of understanding. We don’t like just any ol’ body grabbing a hold of us… or kissing us.
And why should we?
Why does a woman have to tell you ‘no’ regarding anything pertaining to her?
It would seem that a man’s respect of women would automatically give way to the respect of her space.
But it does not. They clearly do not think like us.
Men feel that they can do to women whatever they want.
I do not feel it flattering to have some funky man grab a hold of me.
Nor do I just want everybody in this world to come and just freely lay a kiss on me.
Which is something that just happened to me only a couple of hours ago. Another person I wish would just stop.
With all the various disases going around… all kinds of things on people’s lips… tongues and mouth. No, I don’t want people coming up and kissing on me. And 
particularly people I certainly do not know… or hardly know… and plan on keeping that way.
Having worked for years with men… I am simply not tolerant of a lot of things now. Like I don’t want anybody calling me ‘baby.’ I listened to them calling each other ‘man’ and referring to each other by their names… but when it came to me… is was ‘honey.’
I was not anybody’s ‘honey.’ I had a name… and that name was just fine with me. My parents gave it to me… and called me by it all their lives.
So, why not everybody else?
But it was a way of degrading me… minimizing me. And it is a thing which men love to do to women in the work force.
They like keeping us in ‘our place.’
Herman Cain… it was clear to me even when I first heard him speak …that he was the kind of man I would have never liked working for. He sounded arrogant… puffed up… and filled with himself. Narcissistic in every possible way.
Which would account for why he would believe …knowing his history with women… and how many women who had filed charges against him… why he would think that such a man with ‘that kind’ of a history …as his would be qualified to run, and be sucessful in a bid for the Presidency of this country.
Yes, that would explain why.
I only say 1 thing… Bill Clinton.
And maybe you might say… John Kennedy too.
Okay, I’ll give you that. We could include the Senate and Congress too. And while we are going at it… let us not stop there… but include Governors and other elected officials… police officers… company heads etc… And we could go on forever… and thi
s list does not exclude 
women. Because there have been a few.
Moral standards are not what they used to be… nor are they required it seems. Why would you quiz and question canidates for certain Cabinet offices in this country… and just allow people with obvious character fawls run for the highest office of this country?
Or any office?
Or run any school?
Or head up any church?
What are we thinking?
How could we be so caught up with people that we are willing to just lay aside certain obvious faults in their moral nature?
As much as I used to feel that I liked Bill Clinton back in the day… that’s slang for when he was President… and/or running for President… the truth of matter is this. The man had issues.
Herman Cain had and has issues. And his were bigger than Clinton’s. Because the man dotted upon himself so much… and saw no wrong in ‘him.’
What an egomaniac?
And lets not negate Herman’s propensity for lying.
“Who lies about things that are a matter of legal record?”
“Herman…”
Forget ‘999’… it would have been more like ‘666’ if Herman got in.
Now, going back to the game plan. The plan was to chump up Cain to run against Obama. Thereby pitting 2 black men against each other… which ‘they’ felt would split the black vote. This in turn would allow… ‘their’ real guy… an outside canidate to ease into a win, and take the White House.
That was the political game plan of some key Republicans. It was the way that they were hoping would guarantee a win for them and their party.
Do we really look that DUMB????
We are really not the dumber race. Believe that if you believe nothing else.
Because ‘you’ had to know that was a game the Republicans was playing …by pretending Herman Cain was so popular among Republicans.
Who were they kidding?
Most Republicans hate Obama. And they hate him for the most part for no other 
reason than the fact that he is a black man.
And how dare he be black …and smart too.
Everything that Obama has tried to do the Republican Party has blocked. Any bill or intitative to get American moving and back on track they have hindered. Even down to refusing federal funds to begin rebuilting America’s infrastructure. All for the pleasure of claiming that Obama is a failure.
But Obama is not a failure. Failure is something which is not in Obama’s vocabulary. Nor does he believe in quitting because it appears that the deck is stacked against him. And do note the word ‘appears.’
I have come to know that oftentimes it not what it ‘appears’ to be… that is what actually is. That’s why I do not follow polls. Learned in my statistics class… No, it was in 1 of my poli-Sci classes on research… that taught me ‘it is how you phrase the question‘… to get the answer that you want. Pollsters are paid by interest groups… parties that want to slant whatever their interest is… in their favor by misleading people on a bunch of supposed facts that many times are not true and are meaningless.
So, the polls that showed Cain to be a favorite…
How in the world could you have believed that?
No, way in the world were the Republicans going to put any black man into the White House. And never 2 black Presidents… back to back?
They would have all curled up and died first.
So, that whole thing about Herman Cain was a myth. They were never going to let him in the White House. Not unless he was going in delivering some pizza.
Must say though that it is a shame when men in power be they white or black… or any nationality… sit in power, and chose to abuse the power vested in them. By proving 
themselves less than moral. They have no character. Cain clearly is a man without character.
If they choose not to say anything else about Obama… at least his character is certainly not an issue. And his desire to uphold the values of his office, and that as a husband and family man are sure and true.
Well, hope you had a good day. We haven’t had any 
more snow. But it has been cold. And for a while we had lots of rain… but that is sure to change as we move closer and closer to Christmas.
Hoping you have a joyous Christmas …just in case I do not post another blog between and Christmas just thought I would get it in now.
Well, God bless… and enjoy the rest of your week.
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
2 comments December 14, 2011
Weiner as dumb as they come… sexual intrigue over the internet…
How do you jeopardize everything by getting caught up in virtual sex?
Believe it or not so many people are caught up in sexual internet encounters. They are intrigued with meeting up with sexual partners over the internet…and go rushing to get back on-line day after day… or night after night to continue their on-line internet intrigue of sexual encounters. With many of them… ‘the 
people’ doing this…ending up rushing off to meet physically with their virtual love interest.
You would not believe the numbers…
Yes, ‘the NUMBERS’ of people that become introduced via social networks over the computer is astounding. And they become so wrapped up in technical instruments… be it their computer or their cell 
phone… their ipad… or laptop …as long as it keeps them plugged into whoever it is that is whetting their sexual appetites over those instruments.
What is the intrigue?
What is the enticement?
What makes so many men and women crazy enough to get so deeply involved in this kind of thing?
And you would be surprised about the number of women and men who are in ‘the church’ who are as involved in this type of behavior… if not more so than those outside of the church.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks-20110611,0,6807419.column
I first learned of this when I happened to be downtown Brooklyn preparing to get ready for an edit session, when an older minister came swinging into the room. 
He proclaimed that he was on his way out of town but wanted to check on something over the computer. The room was lined with computers… and he fell into a seat at 1 of them… and he began talking to me as he struck the keypad to the computer.
He told me how he was meeting up with women over the internet for sex, and that this was how he was now spending much of his time.
Without any shame or remorse he began opening up pictures over the internet to show me various black women he had carried on with… and was now carrying on with. They were mostly women outside of New York… a lot of them in the south. But I was…
Well, I was shocked.
All I could think was…
“What kind of Preacher is this?”
I stood there looking down on the man… as he gleefully went about his task of communicating with these women over the internet. I could not phantom myself wanting to do anything like that.
That man had it bad… but if I thought he was bad… 1 of my sisters overtook him. 
And soon after…
Well, maybe a year or so later after finding out about her absorbtion in this mess… I came to find out that thousands of women had fallen into the very same trick bag. And they too were rushing off to points unknown… like crazy to meet up with men that they had become enticed with over the internet.
Not to mention the hundreds of women who up and marry strangers that they become entangled with over their computers.
This thing is an epidemic. Truly…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/08/anthony-weiner-wife-pregnant_n_873429.html
I don’t understand it… but I know that it can all happen quickly.
I recall when I first started learning the computer… which believe it or not really wasn’t so long ago. Oh… yes it was… now that I think about it. It was about 10 years ago… No, I think a little more.
My then lover had taken it upon herself to teach me how to get started. We had gone up over to the Black Voices’ site into a chat room.
Remember those?
Don’t hear too much about them today… since 1 on 1 conversations have proven to be far more better…I guess. You also don’t have wonder about who is talking to who. And besides the technology has improved vastly. It has become by far very much more advanced.
But back then it wasn’t all that shabby either over a period of time… basically slower… much slower.
But getting back to what I was saying… as we were sitting there at the computer… me and my lover… I got my first ‘IM.’ I didn’t even know what the thing was… it was an ‘instant message’ she told me. But it was really more like an ‘instant photo.’
Wow… this was great I thought. But my lover didn’t like it… because the woman was attractive and told me all kinds of information about herself. She lived in D.C. etc…etc… But that thang came so quick… it was just like that. And if my lover had not been sitting there I might have struck up a conversation with that woman.
But today the technology is even better… and quicker. The systems are more compact and lighter as well. You don’t need to sit at your dusty computer all night anymore. All you need is your cell phone or ipad… or whatever you have and the possibilities are unlimited.
But would you really risk it all for some lewd encounter over the internet?
I was never really a chat room person. But the 1 sister I referenced above… she stayed there. Now, she is on to the next level…social networks. First it was myspace…now facebook… and who knows what else.
She has met countless men during the course of these past …I don’t know …but I
am sure more than 10 years of being involved in this type of behavior. She is overcome by it… and sadly many many …many other women are too.
Personally, I think it is just a step up from prostitution. You are just not getting paid for it. Well, maybe they are if you consider dinner and a cheap hotel constellation for your services.
Needless to say… I have spent many hours considering the actions which she takes so lightly… and prayerfully so. I find it hard to believe that anyone would trust such encounters… if for no other reason than just the health risk alone.
How do you so willingly trust people who many of them over the internet… use a bunch of alias’… and tell a bunch of lies.
And if they really had anything going on in their lives would not have to be meeting up with people over the internet.
And the worst thing about it is this…
How do you go running off to meet up with somebody you don’t even know?
And all that you do know is what they have told you… which for the most case is a bunch of nothing. Just some stuff to make you all hot and bothered… and eager to give them what they want.
Maybe, I am not the brightest or the smartest… but I am not going to involve myself with seeking out people over the internet to fall into bed with… or with the hope that they will become my husband or wife.
The old fashion way of meeting people… and getting to know people worked just fine for me when I was doing that kind of thing. And I would never be fool enough to want to risk my life… or livelihood on a virtual reality relationship of any sort.
Ev
idently, Congressman Weiner was quite proud of his lower half. So much so that he would take pictures of it and forward them out to women …and possibly young girls… over the internet.
It is all so boyish to me… childish. I recall when growing up… and it seemed that young boys are so anxious to show you their stuff. I really cannot remember how many times those of the male species had exposed themselves to me. Or tried to grab my hand and try to force me to touch something that I did not want to touch… that was attached to them.
But certainly by the time they become adults… I would think that they would have all grown out of obsession with it. But not so.
Once while standing down on the platform of the subway waiting on my train… I 
happened to glance across to the platform just across from me. There staring at me was a man openly exposed with his penis in hand and ejaculating.
I have no idea of what all the intrigue with their lower part is… but somehow those men who have not outgrown playing with themselves in public places… or flashing themselves at women… truly they need to get a life. And put their hands and heads on bigger and brighter things in this world.
And some women are just as bad… but they do it in other less obvious ways.
No doubt it is truly a spirit which overtakes people. But the Bible says… ‘be ye not enticed.’
I find nothing enticing in it. I have always shied away from people who seemed to be too sexually aggressive. I found it to be a big turn off. Today… though I do not dwell on sex… but I know that many do.
I am so happy that God released me from the trap that I was in. I used to be driven by sexual desire. It was all I could think of.
Some might say that I was a late bloomer since I had not dealt sexually until after
I hit the ripe old age of 25. But even then I was timid… highly selective… and quite discrete.
But sexual desire had me. It held me captive. But thank God… He set this captive free… and I now walk in liberty.
I cannot think of anything I would rather not do …than to once again fall prey to my old sexual ways. To be caught up in sex. It was all I would think about… and all I wanted to do. I am soooooooo happy to be free.
But Weiner was as dumb as they get.
As much as I was driven by my desires… I never did anything that would make a fool out of me.
Perhaps, I was a bit prudish in my ways. I had heard it said of me… that I liked doing it… but I just didn’t like talking about it. Nor was I willing to film any video tape footage of me indulging sexually… or take any photos of me naked. I have to admit that… at the time I liked to hang out at a certain nude beach… but that was the extent of my public exposure.
Once a woman sent me a nude photo of herself. This was before computers… when I opened the envelope I was horrified. I dropped that picture like it was something hot. The woman was totally naked… and she had positioned herself with her legs wide open. I will stop there.
I could barely pick up that picture. I didn’t even want to touch it to stuff it back into an envelope and forward it right back to her. How dare anyone send me such filth. I forgot what I wrote back to that woman… but it was not nice.
No rational person would involve themselves in such behavior. The man had a wife who based upon the news is currently pregnant with their first child… and he was or ‘is’ a Congressman. How could he have acted so foolishly …and so carelessly.
The Bible says… ‘what is done in the dark will come to light.’
Weiner after initially lying… saying that a hacker had done it… he now states that he mistakenly sent the photo of his lower part by error over Tweeter. He stated that when he realized his mistake he quickly tried to remove the photo. Needless to say… by that time it was a little too late.
In all of his excitement… Weiner certainly ‘exposed’ himself. It came to light…
Well, I really only got up to go to the bathroom. Never intended to write this… but I had fallen asleep with my son’s laptop resting partly on my stomach and upper legs.
So, just as I crawled back into bed… I decided to check the news headlines. And it read… ‘Weiner admits lewd tweets.’
After nearly 2 weeks of lying about it Anthony Weiner finally decided to breakdown and tell somewhat of the truth. It is kind of like John Edwards over his mistress and baby outside of his marriage… or like Bill Clinton in the White House with Monica. Or like that Senator in the men’s bathroom… something about his foot and the stall next to his.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rep-anthony-weiner-denies-tweeting-lewd-photo/story?id=13736214
We have been through it before… and it always seems that if we give it a week or
so the story will change. The lie becomes a half truth… because you can’t really believe that a liar is really going to tell you the truth… not the whole or even the real truth. They only admit to just enough… but never tell us really ‘the truth’ concerning the matter for which they have become embroiled.
We never quite get the whole sordid truth out of them.
But do we really need to… or expect to?
Just know for the next time… from the on-set when the story first breaks… 
always expect to hear the lie first. And then later maybe… just maybe some part of a manufactured truth.
Do you recognize any of these faces?
Do you remember any of their initial stories?
And what was the final outcome?
Wait a minute… I think that there are a few pictures missing.
Is morality a thing of the past?
I have got to get some sleep. It is starting to rain now. I hear it lightly hitting the windowpane. Good night… rather morning…and enjoy your weekend.
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 ©2011
[youtube-=http://youtu.be/-jiNEOaCi5U]
Add a comment June 11, 2011
Making it through…the winter….
The snow outside the house is still nearly 5′ high… and just a few moments ago I saw flurries.
experienced much of in the past few years.It has been the kind of winter…that if you could have only stayed in… with a cup of steaming hot chocolate and a nice thick book it might have been nice… real nice indeed.
A book…like perhaps my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE.
Okay…okay…just kidding. Though I did get my first royalty check from the sales of my book. That was exciting. And I smiled all to myself thinking about it as I dragged myself back out to shovel snow for the 3rd time that day.
Can’t say I mind shovelling snow at all though. It reminds me of the days when my father would be outside with my brothers shovelling out the sidewalk and driveway…and then they would turn right around and then do Miss Lynn’s yard for her. Miss Lynn was the elderly lady who lived right next door.
I think that it is really true about blessings. All of our lives my family has been 
exceedingly blessed. And when I reflect upon it now…I know that it must have been due to the great level of kindness my mother and father showed to others.
They were very giving. We rarely eat Sunday dinner alone…or holidays as my mother always invited people to come and join us.
And it really wasn’t until after my father had passed that I really became aware of the true level of his giving. While mommy made fruit baskets and took flowers to the hospitals and nursing homes visiting upon those she knew and didn’t know… daddy in his own unique quiet way was busy doing and giving too… and it went far beyond doing Miss Lynn’s yard winter, spring summer and fall.
It is profoundly interesting to have lived in the company of such extraordinary people and to be so blind as to just how extraordinary they really were.
I guess you can say that it just ‘like’ kids…always taking things for granted. You know the way we are… or were while growing up. Always mommy I need this… or daddy I want that. And never really thinking or consecrating on anyone else outside of yourself.
It seems that as we develop and grown we seem to develop a propensity to moving more and more towards selfishness… and following that id thang that they all talk about in those psychology books. That part of us that seeks only to please ourselves.
Over a period of time it is amazing that a child so giving… as an adult becomes so uncaring and unwilling to share anything with anyone.
What is it about life that hardens us in such a way?
Is it life experiences?
Or is it that those parts of us which were at the time more Christ -like somehow withered away…and got replaced or shoved to the side somewhere deep inside…just like those mounds of snow outside our house?
Imagine if certain qualities we had as children still remained in each of us today…just how much better of a place this world might be today.
Hope you are enjoying whatever weather God has laid at your door today.
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 ©2011
2 comments February 13, 2011
Mind games…
After meeting up with the religious nut in the back of my parent’s yard… I strongly believe that people today are looking for some ray of hope… some divine saviour to remove all their woes and care away.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/645182.stm
The man spoken about in the above news LINK… looks very much like the image we have all come to recognize as Jesus Christ. He walks around barefooted and in a robe. His hair is 
about the length of the hair we have all seen in those pictures and statues of the supposed Jesus. And he leads people to believe that he is Jesus… but he never discloses his true name.
They call him “What’s his name.”
They marvel at him and look upon with reverence… as if they truly believe that this man walking around trying to pretend in the most obvious ways that he is Jesus re-
born or something.
Well, going back to our neighbor in the house behind us. This man believes that he is Jesus too. Truly.
And not only does he believe it… but he tries to force the thought down my throat.
There is but 1 God. And clearly whether most people believe it or not only 1 Jesus Christ… who will eventually return. But he is not here yet.
I am not foolish enough to believe that the guy behind our house is the second coming. Who often tells me that God spoke to him and told me that he should come and rake or otherwise clean our yard. All this… while asking me to kiss him.
What kind of God would have me to do that?
Not the 1 that I know.
So, I do not entertain the man. Because I recognize that something clearly is wrong with him. And something is wrong with the guy in Hazelton, PA… who believes he can walk 
around in a robe, wear his hair down to his shoulder, while walking around barefooted , speaking in a soft voice while all the while pretending in some less than subtle kind of way that he is Jesus Christ.
It is a con job. And it comes at a time when many people are unsure about a lot of things… such as whether or not their house will be foreclosed on… how they will get the money to heat bill… or will their children be able to stay another semester in college… or whether or not they will be able to find another job.
In times of hardship, distress and unrest we all look for something. But it is not the time to reach out to 
people pretending to be something which they clearly are not. And could never be.
Perpetrators come in all sizes, shapes and forms. And 1 of the biggest type of perpetrators… even since
Biblical times have been those who wanted to pretend like they were and are holy… while seeking to do evil.
In the Appalachian Mountains of this country live some of the countries most tested people. People who have been used, abused and exploited for more than just capital gain. Made to 
drink and bathe in dirty contaminated water, while sucking in air full of cancerous and poisonous pollutants… in places that used to be so pristine, so pure and so clean.
Now, in walks this man… “What his name.”
On the political front I received a call from a friend of mine last night saying-
“What do you think about your President?”
I really didn’t at first know what she meant. But as she went on she expressed her disapproval of Obama caving in to the Republicans concerning the Bush tax cuts.
It seems she had been watching a lot of TV lately… following closely those debates where everybody sits around debating every turn or statement and action that Barack Obama does.
I told her that it seemed to me that there were a lot news shows lately that seemed totally dedicated to critiquing any and everything Obama did or said… especially every policy and word he utters. Yet, as dumb as George Bush was nobody sat around dissecting every little thing he did. And clearly somebody should have.
If we voted Obama in…then we should be willing enough to allow him to do his job without all of 
us standing over him with a whip. Or by allowing others to get us to try and second guess him… on everything.
Who can work like that?
Who wants to work like that?
Oh, ye of little faith. Politics is about making concessions. It is all about give and take. It is the first rule of lawyering and anything else where there are 2 opposing sides.
Without subcoming to part of what the Republicans wanted millions of poor people and out of work people would suffered otherwise while Republicans having a majority vote would still be able to push through whatever they want to.
I believe Obama to be shrewd and a strategic man. A man who makes no moves or plans without thoughtfully weighting them out fully and all their possible ramifications. With all of that being said…
“Let us all please let him do his job without all of us falling prey to what news media and so-called would-be experts would have us believe.”
As dumb as George W. Bush was… and as much of a liar he proved himself to be… he never suffered 
this much scrutiny and lack of confidence as is being levied against Obama. Or disrespect either. Far be it that a black man should succeed or prove to be successful in the office of the President of this country.
I am very sick of hearing… that Obama does not know what he is doing. It is very very easy to sit in a seat over in a corner or somewhere and say that.
Don’t fall for the lies… and fake analyses. They are only meant to belittle and berate him. And to make Obama appear ineffective and unknowing… and worst of all ill-informed. He’s bigger than that.
I’m looking forward to great things from what history will prove to be a great man… and perhaps our greatest President.
It has started snowing here. And it has been soooooo cold.
Today I stayed mostly in bed. But finally I started feeling guilty. So, I got up and started stirring about.
I have got a ton of boxes laying about. I am trying to clear up the house a bit. I figure if I do a little a day I might just get it all done. So, I am working on it.
Forgot to mention that last Saturday… are you ready for this?
Last Saturday I got my first royalty check for my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE. Can’t believe it. Wasn’t much… but it is just the idea that somebody read… or is reading my book. I really hope to get some feedback on it if you are 1 of them. Thanks so much.
And I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was great… filled with lots of family, friends and food.
And I do note the passing of Elizabeth Edwards who loss her battle against cancer just a couple of days ago. There is 1 thing about strong women they never let anything take them down. Not heartache or disappointment… or even sickness.
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
Add a comment December 11, 2010
Some of what you may be waiting on…
You have been reading my writings… Well, some of them. You may have even watched my book trailer for my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE.
Now, and I want to show you something that I started yesterday. It is the radio spot for my book. I added some visual material just so I could launch it over youtube…and you would have something to watch.
But if you have been wondering about me… I mean my voice. What I may or may not sound like.
I mean I would be curious about you… if I read some of your work. Most people flip over a book just to take a look at what the author looks like. And I have given you that chance in my actual book trailer, which I hav
e also included in this blog.
But I am so excited about my radio spot. Tell me what you think. And it is me speaking… but then I have told you that by profession I am a radio announcer.
And if you think my radio spot is something… which thanks to a software call ‘Motion’… it really looks greater than I could have imagined. Then ‘Final Cut’…was the software I used to put it all together. And the rest is… Well, you tell me…
And one other thing… I really wished you could see my website. If you went and checked out my initial site…which really wasn’t much to check out. Baby, you should see it now!
I just finished reading this story. There are things that touch me…and things that make me mad. This story did both.
This is the kind of case you wished Johnny Cochran was still around for.
How in the world could the LA police arrest a young woman mentally challenged, hold her for a few days then release her without her pocketbook, money, or any way to get home. And seeing that the young woman was obviously distressed in some way.
How could they have done that to her?
It was a scenario set for doom.
If they had set it up the LA police could not have done a better job in aiding in the murder of this young woman. The moment this young woman was released the chances of her making it home safely without something happening…in LA?
It was slim at the very best. And the worst part of it…. her loving and caring mother tried her best to keep anything from happening to her daughter.
I feel for this family.
My goodness…what a terrible story. I cannot imagine the hell or the evil that Matrice was thrown in or the fate that she had to endure. What a terrible story. No amount of money or law suit can compensate the injustice which was done here.
I restrain myself from speaking on the Fantasia story. To some degree I 
feel for her though.
There is something that I am so sure about.
“The devil desires to steal your life.”
And if you let him he will.
There was once a time when I thought about suicide. But thank God, He only let it be just a fleeing thought.
Matters of the heart can make people do foolish things.
But the one thing about life is this…
There is always tomorrow. And usually it is a much better day.
http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12956553
I just finished talking to friend of mine who reminded me that Fantasia is illiterate. It has been so long that I had forgotten it. How she told the story of how she had to learn the songs for American Idol by having to
have someone read her the words so that she could remember them.
Can you imagine that?
For her to do that… Fantasia in fact must be brilliant. And if she had learned to read and perhaps all those other basic things that we all pretty much take for granted… she might have well been further ahead today since having won American Idol a few years ago.
There is no doubt that education is essential for success. And true success cannot be had or maintained without it.
You know to know how to read, write, add and subtract. Without these basic skills all of us would find it difficult to survive.
Now with computers and with texting… who doesn’t need to know how to read or type… or write? And it doesn’t matter whether you can type with 1 finger or with all 10… but without being
familiar with the alphabet or without knowing how to read you would be lost… totally out of the loop.
Then she got caught up with a married man.
Then there was something about her a ‘sex tape.’
Could it be a need for some attention?
That is what my son says.
Or is it that Fantasia like some many other ‘so-called’ stars when they fall out of the glimmer of all the light… they reach out to do some desperate or stupid things just to get catapulted back into the spot light?
Attempting to commit suicide is illegal. But I hear that Fantasia is due to
release a new CD and sometime this week she begins making the rounds to various TV shows. Perhaps it was… just something to give her something to talk about while she sat down for those rounds of TV interviews. Or perhaps it was all for her to grab the attention of Oprah and others to add her to their guest lists in the wake of her ordeal… and increase CD sales.
Who knows…
http://www.dvercity.com/drumbeats_fantasia.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/12/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main6766379.shtml
Hope you enjoy your weekend. Summer will soon be coming to an end. In many places school has already begun again.
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
THE BISHOP’S WIFE is now on sale. You can CLICK this LINK to purchase my book.
2 comments August 20, 2010
Busy…but not forgotten…
Yes, I have been busy…but I have not forgotten you.
Often, in fact, I formulated blogs in my head. It is just that they have not quite made it to the printed form. And soon those thoughts faded away… lost forever in the recesses of my mind.
It gets like that…getting busy, I mean. You get so caught up in something else that everything else… Well, almost everything else falls by the wayside.
Then just this pass weekend 1 of my sisters had a heart attack. Well, needless to say that can really send you into a tailspin…if you weren’t already into one. So, I have been busy…and now I’m into a tailspin too.
There is something about having to deal with one’s mortality that will
force you to view your own…your purpose… life… things done …and things yet hoping to get done. Then there are those things which we don’t want to do but somehow feel lead to do. And to tell you the truth that is what for the pass couple of days I have been wrestling with the most now that all of this has happened.
For a while now I have had a feeling that I am been lead to preach… as in ‘Preacher.’ So, I began to not only read my Bible but I also started to study it. You know that scripture that says…
“Study to show thou self approved…”
So, for the pass I don’t know what…over 2 years or so… I have been studying. And recently I began videotaping a television program for Public Access…a series about learning to study your Bible.
But when my sister suffered her heart attack it now seems that I have just been stalling…trying to put off the enviable.
It is not that I don’t want to do it. No, not that…though that is kind of it 
too. But I lack the confidence to do it. I can’t remember scripture…though I do believe that as the Bible says…
“He will bring it back to our remembrance.”
Yes, I do believe that. And He has shown me that He does and will do it. But it is just that… I don’t really want to preach.
I mean I have been in radio, introduces acts at concerts, promoted different events… But…but this is different.
So, as busy as I claim that I have been… Well, I haven’t been all that 
busy. I have just been laying around…low key…thinking about what it is that God is asking me to go out and do. And down deep inside…I really don’t want to do it.
But I feel I must. And then again I am afraid if I don’t… Well, I’m afraid of what God may do to me… or my family. And that is what I think my sister’s heart attack was all about.
I don’t think it was about her at all. But that it was about me …and what I am not doing.
How can you be instant in and out of season if you really lack what you think you need?
I know that God would not send any of us out without fully equipping us
to fulfill His need. But yet I can’t bring myself to want to go out into the streets and just start preaching.
How can some people do that?
All of my life I think I have been prepared for where God wants me to be. Somehow He trusts in me. But I have no trust in myself… or maybe in Him as I should.
Pray my strength in the Lord that I decide to walk in the steps that God has ordered for me.
Yes… I have been busy. And maybe later I will tell you all about it…but now I am going through something.
God bless…
If you want to read some excerpts from my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE, you can go to my website…. www.bsmith101.com . But before you do just let me tell you that the site is very much under construction. So, it is a long ways from being complete or anywhere near what I want… not even close to it at this time. But slowly…but surely I know it will be something that will meet all our expectations.
So, if you would please bear with me…I would appreciate it very much. But you can at least read some excerpts from my book there. And if you desire to order my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE, please do so here in my blog…as I can’t get that link to work.
My book is also available via authorhouse.com, barnes&nobles.com, amazon.com, filedby.com and a variety of other outlets…including ordering it through your local bookstore.
I have not officially launched the sale of my book yet. But while I was down in Charlotte for AIM, our church convention…guess who purchased my book?
Dorinda Clark Cole.
Yes, that is right. ‘THE’ Dorinda…of the Clark Sisters…the COGIC gospel singing sentations.
I still can’t believe it. Dorinda bought my book!
I was trying to give her a copy of my book to give to her sister, 
Twinkie…and Dorinda said to me…
“No, I ain’t going to give Twinkie nothing. If 
Twinkie wants your book she is just going to have to come and get it for herself. But I’ll buy your book. I support people of the Kingdom.”
Yes, that is exactly what Dorinda said to me. Amazing.
I only sold 1 book at A.I.M. and it was to Dorinda Clark Cole. Amazing.
Here is my book trailer that I created last summer… Now you get a chance to hear my voice and to see a bit of me as well. And please keep in mind…that by profession… I am a radio announcer…and a filmmaker. It does make a difference.
I’ll tell you more about AIM in another blog…and I do have lots to say. It was 
so inspiring and fantastic listening and watching all the women and men of God… and speaking with many of them of as well.
THE BISHOP’S WIFE is now on sale. And remember you can read a few excerpts from my book by going to …. www.bsmith101.com …Thank you. 
I am just hearing that Walter Hawkins passed while we were down in Charlotte. I never heard anything about it while I was at AIM, a Church of God in Christ conference. He had been battling cancer my son informed me.
It is hard to believe. I never knew him or met him…but I was quite familiar with his music and that of his brother and ex-wife. Who in
the gospel world is not familiar with them?
His brother, Edwin Hawkins and his ex-wife, Tramaine Hawkins…both gospel giants in their own rights as well. 
What a great lost to this Kingdom on earth with a the lost of such a tremendously marvelous
and anointed voice as Walter Hawkins.
Walter and Tramaine Hawkins, his ex-wife, had 2 children and also some grand-children from their union together
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2010/07/gospel-great-walter-hawkins-di.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/13/AR2010071306089.html
What a great lost.
Luckily my sister realized that there was something wrong. I later found out that she drove herself to the hospital where upon checking her out…she was informed that had she not come she would have died.
Her heart was in such bad shape and she did not know it. In fact, just last weekend we were all happily in Philly for a large family gathering celebrating the life of the matriarch of our family ‘at large’… our Great Aunt Kate. But who would have guessed that in the midst of my sister’s chest a time bomb was ticking.
If you would like to know some symptoms of an on-coming heart attack CLICK these LINKS below.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/actintime/haws/women.htm
http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/healthmedical/a/womensami.htm
Be safe and keep yourself monitored by getting regular check-ups… and don’t forget to tell your doctor…
“What about my heart?”
It seems they check almost everything else but that when it comes to women. And more 
and more of us are dying from it.
My mother did. So, if heart failure runs in your family it is never too soon to start having it check.
And lets all start eating a little bit healtier.
Well, God bless…again.
UPDATE: July 29, 2010… My brother just mentioned this to me in passing. I was not aware that the current Musical Director of the Church of God in 
Christ International Choir, Judith McAllister was even married…or much less that her husband had been indicted for fraud.
One could say that when it rains it pours… Since becoming the head of the international musical department of the Church of God in Christ Dr. McAllister has been faced with one problem after another.
http://www.1800gospel.com/2010/05/husband-of-judith-mcallister-indicted-for-fraud/
There was the issue of Kim Burrell wanting to go secular… and also I think the issue that the music department has lack a certain level of spiritual direction that it once had under it former leaders. None of the songs seem to connect any more. There seems to be a lost in ‘the anointing’ that had 
long been a marker… a brand specific almost to the COGIC church which it had since its founding, some 103 years ago… being the largest and one of the oldest Pentecostal Churchs in the world.
Last year when I sat in on a workshop held by the COGIC scholars at AIM…my brother spoke on the topic of spirituality in the music. It was something that 
he said Bishop Mason was very particular about.
In the part of his dissertation, my brother wrote that Bishop Mason, the founder of the Church of God in Christ, wanted the music to come alive and be felt deep down within the soul of the people. That is something that under Judith McAllister the National COGIC Choir seems to have lost. The songs had no depth… no feeling …no emotions… nothing that brings tears to your eyes… or moves you as the songs once had.
I don’t know but someone came up on this site saying that Dr. McAllister has decided to step down from her post as the International Director of the COGIC 
Choir..though they said ‘removed’. I guess all of this might be following the allegations surrounding her husband… his arrest and indictment. He 
was a Special Agent employed by the FBI and stationed in Nashville, TN… who I guess you could say ‘decided he wanted more out of life and decided to take it.’
I do not know if it is true or not…that she has stepped down but if so… Her husband is facing 19 counts of fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud etc…etc… which all totals more than 340 years in federal prison. To that…all I can say is I really did not see what was wrong with the COGIC International music Department as it already was anyways.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/tne/pr/2010/May/McAllister%20Press%20Release.htm
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family to em , co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2010
Add a comment July 29, 2010
It’s not all about me… or you… Good & Evil… Pastor Sheryl Brady’s new home… women in ministry…
Pop culture I guess has its place but in glancing back at some of the title of 
blogs I have written…it strikes me that most of them are s
heer junk.
What do I care about Mary J’s hair styles?
Or whether or not Venus wants to show her behind off during the recent tennis tournament in Paris?
Can’t even think of it’s name now…that’s how much it really matters to me.
Or what about this…
Why should I care whether or not Gary Coleman was murdered or not?
Because… Well, because I guess way down deep there is a part of me that does care. Though recently I was called non-caring… selfish… self-centered… and not kind. Now, that really hurt. 
I’m not kind?
I’M NOT KIND???????
How dare anybody tell me that I am not kind. All the money I have spent. All the things I have done. And they say-
“I’m not kind?”
This has been eating at me since I heard it. Which was roughly about 3 weeks ago at 
my brother’s graduation. But I have just been trying to play it off…like it didn’t bother me. But somewhere back there in the far crevices of my mind it has lingered. Periodically it would pop up and I would push it back out of my mind. And I would just refuse to acknowledge it…or that it even really mattered to me to have heard that.
But it did.
My weapon against it came to mind from Biblical text… how the Bible says that they will call evil good …and good evil.
Well, why not?
It seemed to fit… and fit perfectly. I after all I do not consider myself to be a bad …mean …or even an evil person.
Yes, I have had to do some things. But never without cause or justification. Some I didn’t want to do… but I did it thinking I was forced to. 
So, then too as many people as I have given to… poured out myself to …gave to when I didn’t have it to give… Then so… how is it that I should be considered ‘not the kind one?’
Well, if you give from the heart you do not walk around talking about your giving. You just give.
You give because you see that somebody needs. You give because you are compelled to… and you respond to the force which compels you to do so. You give without expecting anything in return. You give not seeking a slap on 
the back or a pat on the hand. You just give… because- Well, because there was something you saw… you sensed… you witnessed… and your heart opened up …and you just gave.
It could have been a word… that is what they call ‘a kind word.’ Or it could have been financial. Or it could have been of your time …or a token of your wisdom… if you have some. But you gave it to meet a need in someone else.
And so, at the end of the day you do it without seeking fame or glory.
So, yes. From time to time you are bound to be not called ‘the nice one’ or ‘the kind one.’ Because you gave while no one was looking …and you weren’t looking for them to be so… being you sought not recognition. You just gave…and it made somebody’s day… and probably your’s too.
So, it’s not all about me …or you either. It is about others.
And who cares whether others recognize your giving …or your caring …or your kindness …or the level of outpouring you share with and to others.
But God knows. And in the end that is all that matters.
God bless… and do what you can… for others. And forget about what is …or is not being said about you.
It really doesn’t matter. It truly doesn’t. And now that I have said all of that… I don’t know why it bothered me so much …not being called ‘the nice one.’ Or was it ‘the kind one?’
I really can’t even remember now. But boy did it eat at me. But now God has spoken into my spirit …and after writing this …releasing all those feelings of self-evaluation and trying to figure out why I was not being called ‘the nice one’ …or was it ‘the…-‘
Oh, never mind.
I am just going to work to be better …and increase my caring and giving. And give from my heart and not expect anything back, including somebody calling me ‘the nice one’ …or is it ‘the…-‘
It is truly not important. And I thank you for listening while I sorted this all out. Because it really really isn’t about me.
Who knew that Wanda Sykes was this short?
And I do mean shorrrrrrt.
When she is not going on and on with all that foul language she can be pretty funny. But she and Sade were quite adorable in that little skit don’t you think?
Now, on to this.
I fell to sleep messing around with my son’s laptop computer last night and 
woke up listening to Pastor Sheryl Brady preaching on the Word Network, a religious television channel. I guess it was her excitement that woke me up. She was bubbling over with glee about having moved to 
Texas, and becoming part of Bishop T.D. Jakes’ ministry as pastors under him, she and her husband, of a North campus addition of the Potter’s House.
As I listened to her it struck me as being odd. Because I could not understand. Was she saying that she had left her own church… as in deserting it… and them…those people who had joined her church, the River Church, down there in Durham, North Carolina?
And was she saying that she was now in Texas serving up under Jakes?
Yes, it struck me as odd, indeed.
Because for 1 I just could not… and do not understand what could have precipitated such a drastic decision or move?
http://blogs.bet.com/ontv/thegospelaccordingto/2010/04/following-up-sheryl-brady-eric-mcdaniel/
Having heard Paula White on several occasions call T.D. Jakes her spiritual father… who played a great role in bringing her onto the national scene via his used to be annual event called ‘Woman Thou Art Loose.’ No where as near well known or as popular on the higher national church preaching plain… one has to wonder if the switch to come up under Bishop Jake was due to a desire on the part of Pastor Sheryl Brady, to emerge on a higher level of the national urban religious scene… if you care to call them that. Or more simply state… preachers that appeal to the vast numbers of African American worshippers.
While in this exchange Bishop Jakes also adds to his cross-over appeal by appointing Brady and her husband, who are white, as the head of one of 
his churches. With Allen, TX as the place where they are now currently ministering… having a population of about 83,000, whose income is for the most part upward to $188,000/per year and beyond. Which might answer why he offered the Brady’s that location as opposed to opening up a Potter’s House extension in North Carolina, where they came from…or somewhere in ‘the hood,’ meaning where more black folks are.
Speaking of which… ‘Woman Thou Art Loose’ that is. I was privy to being at the last one to be held in Houston, TX, 2003. It was the one where Juanita Bynum came and got down on her knees apologizing to both Bishop Jakes and his wife regarding her falling out with them… which had ended up with her going into court against him claiming that ‘Woman Thou Art Loose’ was her brain child, and I guess some other things as well.
I do not know how the law thing worked out. As at the time I was not saved or following such things, and I knew nothing about either of them really. Nor was I following anything religious at that time… far from it. Thank God…I can say differently today.
But I enjoyed that conference very much that September of 2003 in Houston. I was quite impressed by the entire operation… and boy was it well organized. I sat though it taking all kinds of mental notes… from the camera layouts…to how the camera jibs swinging high in the air above the crowd grabbed all the great shots. It was crowded in that arena… packed in fact…and it was not a small place with its retracting roof.
It was loaded with women…upstairs…down stairs…all aound…from corner to corner… and all on the main floor… all hotels had been solidly booked and sold out. Women
had travelled from all over the world to be there…Africa… Germany… France… LA… Boston… and Brooklyn… etc…etc… And many of them were annual re-turners… women who organized their schedules year in and out just to be in the midst of ‘Woman Thou Art Loose.’
And it was worth doing so.
I was amazed… even down to the short-circuit tv cameras beaming the servic
es out to women in prison… and giving us an occasional view of them cuddled around tv screens watching us and listening to the mighty women who walked and talked upon that stage.
It really was something. And if they had not moved the event to Atlanta and mixing it with the men …and children …I would have certainly considered returning again and again to Houston myself.
But what I really recall is how I listened and watched Juanita 
Bynum preach about how big-headed she had become… and how she blamed it all upon listening to others. While I watched it I knew I had become a part of something special.
How many people go back and get before a packed out arena to cry and declare ‘I was wrong and out of order.’
When she got through there was not a dry eye in the house. And I was crying 
right along with all the rest of them. T.D. Jakes was crying… his wife was
crying… Paula White was crying… her husband was crying… Everybody in the place… and all on that platform was crying. And yet I wondered if what I was watching was real?
And no sooner had T.D. Jakes poured that oil and anointed her, Juanita got up and quickly proclaimed to every woman who had a checkbook to write 
a check for $100.
So, I wondered how could she go from crying and begging forgiveness to so quickly switching gears and start demeaning money?
And did those women do exactly what she told them to do. They got on the 
elevators… ran down several flights of staircases and swarmed the arena floor rushing the stage with their checks in hand.
And what a mad rush it was. With checks waving all in the air. Checkbooks
open… running…weeping women… charging forward… women running towards that stage and trying to fill out their checks all at the same time, while trying to not get knocked down by the droves of other women doing e
xactly the same thing.
So, I have no doubt that the fame …and glory of it had a lot to do with it. With the Brady’s quick departure from North Carolina to the green lawns and fresh humid Texas air in Allen.
Now, that I think about it… it might have been a $1000 that Juanita told them
to bring and lay it upon the altar. I can still hear her saying-
“Come now! I don’t care where you are come now!”
And they came. While I on the other hand was going in the opposite direction.
Well, I better get off this computer. I’ve got a studio shoot tomorrow… and I do not know about you… But for some reason there just never seems to be enough time in my schedule any more. Time is truly flying by us. We go from one week into another without any real lapse of time it seems. Before I know it…it is Friday again… then Monday and the week is done. Just like that.
I may well be at the Book Festival with my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE, this year as I just got my invitation from them. And also from the LA Book Festival… it 
seems that I just might get around to doing some book touring this year after all.
It is not like I haven’t been planning for it. But it is like I said time is flying. And all my other obligations are definitely keeping me busy. Maybe by this weekend at least an ‘in construction page’ may be up on my website page. And hopefully the links will work.
I am working on it. Because I have noticed that some of you have started looking for it. So, let me assure you that it is sooooon coming, praise the Lord.
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 to em , co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2010
THE BISHOP’S WIFE is now on sale…CLICK the photo to my book for the LINK to purchase my book. Thank you.
Add a comment June 17, 2010
Gary Coleman passing… Parenting and those who claim to know…
I have long held that most of the supposed authorities giving out information on how to treat, displine and handle your children…are really a bunch of people who do not know what they are talking about.
Now, today I happen to come across this article…which…
Well, it proves my point.
The above LINK to the article is written by a mother who states that she is a Professor at some big time university…where she and her husband taught. And I say ‘taught’…because he is now deceased, but she still teaches there…wherever it is.
Probably in New York…or at Yale…or some place. Some place like NYU…or Harvard…M.I.T. Or Georgetown…or Princeton. But I bet you it is somewhere on the East Coast. Somewhere near Greenwich… or out in the Hamptons.
And I tell you why.
In this woman’s article…this Professor… she states that she told her daughter that it was okay for her to drop out of school.
Yes, I did say that. This she plainly states in her article where she says that she told her daughter, who wanted to drop out of high school…that it was okay to do so. In fact in the article the woman states this….”school wasn’t working for her. So, I even encouraged her to drop out.”
The so-called ‘parenting expert’ also states in her article that she is the author of numerous books on parenting.
Now, do you get my point?
For some years now these so-called ‘parenting experts’ have been telling this country how to care, chastize, woo and cuddle their child. Most of them mind you have never even had a child yet they sit around articulating on various talk shows, 
radio programs and in new articles how ‘we’…real parents should care for our children, and their discipline.
They are the ones responsible for why laws were written about what types of discipline are and are not allowable or acceptable. Laws which have given way to some of the most unruly children to walk the face of this earth. Many have no matters…and some even lack basic unbringing.
I am not, however, critiquing or criticizing all children or teens…or anyone outside of this mother who happens to claim that she is an expert in this matter. Clearly something is wrong with the picture of ‘child/parent relationships’ today. And this corrupted picture basically has stemmed from a lot of very bad advice 
from a bunch of people running around who nothing about children. And neither do most of them had any children of their own…or like this woman who wrote the above article…they failed to be able to control their own children.
So, they give in to them…and up on them.
What parent in their right mind is going tell their child in these days and times…or in past times that its okay to drop out of high school?
No one. None of them did. Though in past times many children did not have the leisure of pursuing a full education based upon family demands. But these days have changed and so has the criteria to be capable and compedent to be a part of today’s work force. It has grown and gotten much higher. You need more education today…more than ever before. And particularly if you want what is called a good job…and higher pay.
Evidently, this woman is either very rich… or she has heavily insured her 
daughter and plans for some type of accident. Because either that or she must be planning on taking care of her daughter some how for the rest of her life. Because without a college education…and many times above… her daughter’s life is going to become very hard.
Anyone who does not have an appropriate education today is as good as doomed. There is no about it…or buts about it. Everybody can’t go to Hollywood and become the next $20 million movie star…or make mega making music song deals.
I am sure that that this woman’s daughter is never going to be the next Whitney Houston or Barbara Streisand. Her daughter doesn’t stand a chance unles
s her mother has some money. It is highly unlikely that this woman’s daughter will succeed at much of anything if her mother’s attitude has always been-
“Oh, well if you can’t do it that’s okay. Just quit.”
What parent tells their child that?
What do these so-called experts know?
People who want their child or children to succeed in life push them. They push them to get up in morning…to make their beds… to clean their rooms… to brush their teeth… to comb their hair… to take a bath…etc. Parent’s push their children…and after a while the hope is our children will start pushing themselves. They must learn to get up…and make their way in life. They have to learn to clean their rooms on occasions… and how to take a bath and brush their teeth…and comb their hair without anyone having to pu
sh them.
And I do not mean by being mean and cruel to your 
children…or be overbearing in your desires for your children. No, not in that way…where the children come to dispise you because all you care about is that “A” or the winning of the ball game. No, not at all like that. But the kind of pushing that parents must do in order to get their children up and going…and to engage them in life.
It is called ‘growth and development.’
We grow…and develop over time. I am sure 
that over time even I have grown in the writing of these blogs. My first blogs are nothing like they are now…be it in their overall appearance…content…the amount of time I spend on creating them…and my total effort in doing them. I have grown…and so have they.
But I learned how to grow through my parents pressuring me to always do my best…and to never give up. Needless to say…I didn’t always like it…but it worked. Speaking of which…when my son spent 4 years in 9th grade…
Yes, I did say 4 years in 9th grade. I told him this-
“I don’t care how long it takes you to finish high school. You can sit there 
until you get old and grey if you want to. But you are going to stay there until you finish or until somebody walks up to you and taps you on the shoulders to tell you to get out. But you are going to stay there until then.”
And I meant every word of it.
It was not that my son was a bad child. But he was a social butterfly. I sat in on many of his classes just to ensure that he was doing his doing what he was suppose to be doing in school. And I often travelled in from New York… getting off the inter-state bus to catch a city bus to the whatever school he was at.
If you want your children to succeed you have got to commit yourself to 
their success. And you have to do it without surrendering. I never surrendered. Today my son is very successful. He successfully finished high school and then went on from there. Today he makes lots of money doing what he loves. But it did not come with me giving up on him or giving in to him.
It takes education to end up in life doing what you love. Must people work
doing what they have to…and oftentimes doing something that hate (and that is many times regardless of their education if they chose to study something just for the money). But those who are educated can pick and choose what it is that they want to do…and at what price. That is the beauty and difference that education can make.
This is not to say, however, that only people with good education succeed. Because there are many examples today and yesterday that prove that point as well. But, however, that road is not an easy one… and it becomes complicated with a lot of ‘no’s’…and plently of road blocks.
During the last year of my son’s 4th year in 9th grade whenever he asked me for anything I would just merely say-
“Four years-9th grade.”
That ended any further discussion about whatever it was that he was asking me for. Oh, how I loved that time…I did not buy one single thing for him that was not a need. He asked me for new pair of $100 sneakers…he asked me 
for a beeper…he asked me for all kinds of things. But he got none of them… no Christmas gifts…birthday gifts…nothing. Nothing…not that I would have bought him a beeper or spent $100 on a pair of sneakers anyways. But I still remember his face when I would say that to him…4 years-9th grade. But he made it out of 9th grade. And from that point on he began making the honor roll.
It took some time but it got there. It hit home… my saying that to him. It must have given him pause to sit back and think about the time he was wasting. He had thought of school as a fun place not a learning place. It is alright to have fun in school, but not whern it disrupts others…or hinders your learning…or that of those around you. My son did not hinder others…he just was busy not doing his work.
But after that first time of making it onto honor roll there was such a shift in my son’s attitude towards his school work. He started taking pride in 
himself and his school work. He even began to brag that he was the smartest boy in his class. And from that first moment on the honor roll he just kept on out performing all of them…because it felt better than sitting in school doing nothing…and everybody now looking up to him, and asking him to help them.
At the end of the day no child wants to do anything. I know I didn’t. We would have all rathered to have sat before the TV all day watching cartoons
or drawing and coloring on paper…where as today’s kids play all kinds of computer games…game boy and things like that. And if they could they would never set it down… or go to school if their parents let them.
So, enter this woman…who I guess is proud… Well, she states that she is proud. She feels that she has done some great thing by telling to her daughter to quit school. I would beg to differ.
And just like I said when I started this blog. It just goes to prove all along what I have always believed about these so-called ‘child experts.’ They do not have a clue. And nobody should be listening to them.
And before I forget…the reason I said that the woman (the mother) was probably some Professor from NYU or some other North Eastern college, was because her view seemed to be quite East Coast liberal. It was…or is quite liberal, which I think is how a lot of former flower children/hippy…or should I say ex-hippy…or ex-flower children liberal Eastern Professors think. And particularly if they have money…or come from families with 
money.
If you have money then it really doesn’t matter. You can say something dumb like tell your child to go ahead and just drop out. Because you have the finances t
o provide and care for that child for the rest of his or her life. And being that this woman has a daughter… Then she can do it right up until the time her daughter gets married.
Well, I was wrong…the woman who wrote the article teaches at some school in California.
But the point that made the whole article ridiculous for me was the fact that the woman…this ‘child/parenting expert’ was proud of herself for telling her daughter she should just drop out of high school. This she told her daughter because her daughter wasn’t doing well, and she didn’t like school.
Boy, if ever parent thought like this woman more than 3/4 of the school population would no longer be attending school.
What child doesn’t think that they hate school?
I didn’t…but that is beside the point. I guess I would be part of 1/4 attending school. But I don’t think I would really count. Because I only liked school because it got me out of the house and away from my sisters and brothers. When you are the oldest of 8 siblings…you fall in love with school real quick.
Now, back to this woman who wrote the article…this supposedly well educated woman…a woman of letters… having a doctorate in her field…which in turn gave way to her the claim to proclaim herself an expert in the first place. And this woman also writes books telling parents what to do concerning their children.
Real parents stand up. You better take those books by these so-called 
experts and throw them into your incinerator. Because clearly this woman doesn’t know what she is talking about. She doesn’t even have a clue. Her head must be stuck in the ground. And her hand is definitely not on the pulse of what is important in the real world.
And she teaches college students?????
If your child is going to succeed…they will need to be educated. And I hope that whoever your child is…I hope they are not in any of this woman’s classes.
Throughout history the levels of man’s success has always been measured and linked to his hard work and level of education. And education has always set the standard for the classes…separating those who have juxtapose to those who have not.
Now, on to Gary Coleman. 
While listening to Bev Smith last night on her late-night radio talk show over the internet, I heard that Gary had been emitted into the hospital and was in intensive care.
If ever you have considered getting your child involved in the entertainment business Gary Coleman’s life is definitely one which should give you pause and is worthy of another consideration.
If ever there was a group of child stars who did not fare well it was the 
group of child stars that appeared on the show with Gary Coleman. We all remember “Diff’ rent Strokes.” It ran all the way up until Arnold began to turn old before our very eyes…and therein laid his delima.
Size-wise he never grew much but his feature stopped 
ceasing to be as cute and lovable…I guess you could say. Which I have no doubt had a lot to do with his medication and kidney problem. But then too there were those storylines. They got to where they were just plain dumb. And so the show over time lost its appeal and audience.
But there was something going on in the background. Drugs came into their
midst. Then drinking added to the drugging. But we never could tell…least ways I couldn’t. But it affected the lives of the 2 other child stars on the show…more so than it did Gary.
Todd Bridges who was always good-looking, along with Dana plato all became sister and brothers. Willis…the character that Todd
played on the show, was supposedly Arnold’s real brother, who both end up being adopted into the rich Drummon family. Where Dana, Kimberly 
Drummond on the show, becomes their sister. Todd later reported that he and Dana experimented with drugs together while working on the show.
Dana later becomes pregnant by some boyfriend and got fired from the 
show. Like Gary Coleman, she too was adopted. And from articles that I have read…the woman who adopted her was hungry for money and really never cared much for the child otherwise.
Dana’s life like Willis’ and Gary’s was sad following the end of their years as stars on Diff’rent Strokes. Down and out Dana moved to Vegas with her baby. She found herself 
in a beat-up trailer park…and one day steped into a video store to rob it with a gun…got jail time…and she later died of an overdose.
Like Willis, Dana was probably the product of child 
abuse. She had the typical scars of a sexually abused child. Following her departure from Diff’rent Strokes she posed nude in a layout in Playboy…and later turned to staring in 
pronography.
Willis’ inner demons began to plague him following a friend of his father taking advantage of him sexually as a very young kid. Years later he found himself suffering 
from anger management, drinking and problems with drugs…and doing time in jail on weapons charges.
Dana at the age of 14 was already drinking and drugging long before she hit 
the set of Diff’rent Strokes. It is amazing that watching them you would have never guessed any of the inner turmoils in any of their lives.
No one can ever tell me about the demons which chase children long after the abuse stops. What a different life and end she might have had.
Arnold…or Gary suffered with kidney problems…a problem which attributed to the lack of his growth in stature. And he also became a very angry man as
the years went by. Often he was dragged into court stemming from incidents where he hit or punched a fan.
He was no longer that cute or funny little child star…but a little short man…out of 
work and turned against his then family. His adoptive parents he took to court claiming that they had robbed him.
Though he tried at different ventures…everything failed. And for a very brief time he even tried to pursue a college education…but that too failed.
Whenever his name came up in the news you always wondered who he had hit next?
It seemed that the whole world had turned against him…and he against it.
I think the one shinning moment through those years was when he and Willis teamed up on a movie showcasing their 
lives and the turmoil that followed after Diff’rent Strokes was ended. I have no doubt that that movie will pop up somewhere now that at the age of 42 Gary Coleman is gone.
http://news.puggal.com/dana-plato-playboy-june-1989-39038/
Willis…or Todd which is his real name… has since gotten his life back on track. And often I have heard him talking about God in his life. I hear that he has a re-occuring role on a soap opera. I certainly wish the continued best for him…along with his continued growth in the Lord.
Yesterday I spent most of my morning resting for my afternoon studio shoot. About 1 o’clock I was up and rushing. But by the end of the night I was tired… but quite satisfied. I had gotten most of what I wanted… and everybody who said that they would… Well, they showed up.
Now, I am on my way with that. And I feel good.
And in case you are wondering why I have not said anything about my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE, lately. Well, for one thing I was hoping to be in New York promoting my book at the Book Expo America this week. And since you know I was in the studio shooting footage last night… So, you know that that didn’t happen…no me and New York City this week.
The other thing that happened…and perhaps you have experienced this. My flash drive died. It CRASHED…and I had all most all of website files on it. And I do mean it crashed…and I had failed to back-up those files anywhere else.
So, for the past 2 weeks I have been praying over my flash drive…and continuously sticking into this computer and that computer hoping for just anything to happen. But it has not. So, I have been trying not to think about.
What good would it do for me to get all upset over it?
None.
Because like you may have…I have learned this lesson more than once. And yet I continue to do it.
I never save anything on a back-up. And dealing with computers…which are very tempermental…you are taking a large risk if you don’t back-up everything someplace else.
And so…I have learned that lesson again. But I 
think that this time is the last time.
Enjoy your night and have a beautiful day tomorrow…and Monday, Memorial Day. I am going to try and get some sleep now.
Tempertures here are climbing again. And it has been real hot here. Better pull out the sprinkler if you don’t have a pool…get yourself some Italian ice. I love them…and popsickles too.
Oh, yes…
Today while waiting on bus. I was joined by some high school seniors in their caps and gowns. And they looked beautiful…and their was an air of excitement and happiness in each of their eyes, as well as, upon their faces.
And I just had to compliment them on their achievements, and tell them how well and beautiful they all looked.
It was beautiful.
The weekend before last we were in Jersey at Drew University cheering for my brother as he walked across the stage accepting his doctorate degree. This past weekend a niece and cousin graduated from college. And this coming coming Wednesday another niece will be graduating from college.
My parent’s children are all growing up…and our family is expanding in many different ways. In our growth and knowledge of the Lord…in our family size…and in our educational knowledge. My partents time and efforts were vested well.
So, it has been busy around here with all the graduations. All of the 
graduation receptions…and all of the tears of pride and joy…and happiness for them. Hope you have had the opportunity to do the same. And if not this year maybe next. But it does not come with people giving up…or parents telling their children its okay you can just quit and drop out of school.
What a road map for desaster.
And…God bless.
THE BISHOP’S WIFE is now on sale…
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
[youtbe=http://www.youtube.com/v/H7_sqdkaAfo&hl=en_US&fs=1]
Add a comment May 29, 2010
NEWS FLASH… bsmith101.wordpress.com … over 100,100 readers…
I just could not keep this to myself.
Today I hit and went over 100,000 people reading this blog. That is so amazing.
I feel like celebrating. I could not have done it without you.
Not that I get paid to do it. Or that I am looking to get paid for doing it. But it is 
surprising to me that over 100,000 people would want to read anything that I have to say. And then to like doing it.
When I first started blogging…I have to admit there was a time when I wondered-
“How is anybody ever going to find me?”
Meaning this blog over the internet. It is not like I put up a big sign or some billboard somewhere.
But somehow you did. You found me. And I think that is so amazing.
Initially, I started off with about 7 readers per day…had to have been friends…as I sent them all out a notice…and I really thought that was great. I mean…that 7 people…even if they were my friends…7 people somewhere liked my blog and wanted to read it. But then my 7 grew to 9 regulars each and every day. And that was a big turning point for me…I could not believe it…and they always read my blogs about the same time each day.
Then my readers went from the 9 to 24…and I kept thinking-
“This is amazing…24 people reading my blog everyday. Wow…”
That was, of course, when I was blogging each and every day. Something that I do not do any longer. Not because I do not want to…but I just do not have half as much to say anymore. Besides, when I started blogging the race to the White House was in full swing between Obama, Hillary and McCain. Hillary started acting crazy…Bush had long ago gotten on my nerves…gas prices went soaring out of control…and tons of people were facing foreclosure including my parent’s property.
So, you see…
Yes, I had lots and lots to talk about when I got started some what…???
Well…it has been all of less than 18 months ago.
Though through that time I did manage to publish nearly 200 blogs…write and publish a book…complete 8 college courses and emerge with my BS in Communications and Political Sciences…with minors in History, English and Human Relations.
And today I hit over 100,000 readers on this blog…nearly 100,100 to be exact. And it is early yet…the numbers are still climbing.
It is my sincere hope that this blog has not only been entertaining to you…but also informative…as well as…thought provoking. And I thank you for allowing me opportunity to share with you.
Perhaps you have not always agreed with me…but I thank you for allowing me to voice my opinion on the matter anyway.
Or perhaps you have and usually do…agree with me. Wow…do I love you.
Please continue to share this blog with your family and friends…and that lady down the street…the man upstairs….just everybody!
And I promise I will continue to write. Though I actually do it all via the computer. Straight off of the top of my head.
Thank you so much for reading…and may God bless you.
And oh, yeah… I don’t know what it is doing your way…but it has sure gotten cold over this way. Some people say it’s going to snow at least once more. But I do not think so. I do believe, however, that we are in for a very very hot summer.
And since most of this summer I plan to be on tour with my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE…I have already started planning for it. First thing of course…was an investment into a whole new wardrobe…and I do mean a ‘whole new wardrobe.’ I will not tell anyone how much I spent Saturday while calling here and there placing orders.
But I needed them. So, I won’t complain. Every now and then…we owe to ourselves to invest something in ourself. So, I did.
I can’t be out around people and looking shabby. Though most of time…well, I hate to say it.
But who cares about clothes?
I’m too busy. But sometimes you just got to break down and buy something new. From one place I ordered 14 items. Then another place I order 1 thing, and 1 thing from some place else. And then I tried to hide the charge card…
Because once I got started spending it seemed that I didn’t want to stop.
Hope you enjoy your Easter.
Well, God bless…
THE BISHOP’S WIFE is now on sale…
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 March 29, 2010
Family…Obama and Health Care Reform Bill passing…out of work out of mind…
Well, I know it has been a while since I last blogged anything…but if you knew what I have been doing…then I don’t think you would have minded.
First of all…most recently we have discovered some long lost relatives. And I do mean…loooooong and lost.
They live in Alaska…believe it or not. And I did say Alaska…where they have been for the past 40 years.
Who knew?
Well, we sure didn’t. But God has a way of uniting families…and friends again. He really 
does…and always in His own time.
At any rate…I have found some new cousins. Or rather they have found us. And it is so wonderful.
One in particular…a cousin by the name of Jean…has been taking up all of my time. Somehow or other…she came to believe that I do nothing all day but sit around waiting on her to call me. And she talks for hours. So much so that she even has told me-
“Oh, why don’t you just take the phone with you into the bathroom.”
This mind you…so we can continue to talk while I shower. She is so funny. She keeps me laughing.
She is indeed a character. But I guess it gets like that when you find something that you never thought you had. What a feeling it is.
In watching bits and pieces of news in between my various stops…as you may recall…I no longer watch television. So, I catch the news from time to time while stepping into this place or dashing into this one…that is if I don’t read it first over the internet.
But while watching Obama out stomping for Health Care Reform…I could not help but notice how 
much more he seemed to be in command…sure of himself…by far more Presidential than I had ever seen him (outside of the debates he had had with John McCain while running for office). He seems to be more comfortable with the position…and the carrying of that title…’Mr. President’… than ever before.
It made me think while observing on a news flash…of the Biblical text where it states-
“What the devil means for evil, God will turn it around for your good.”
Truly, one could say that this has been the case for President Obama.
What the Republicans meant for evil…God has turned it around for his…and I guess you could say for ‘our’ good as well. Where they tried to 
hinder him and block him…it only forced Obama to step up his game…push harder…fight tougher…become more determined. And in the process he has come off looking sharper and keener…and certainly by far more Presidential than I have seen him.
Though the battle to get the bill through the Senate has clearly shown that Obama is not somebody who backs down. He has proven that he is tougher than they think. And the good part is…they can’t pull anything out of Obama’s closet in order to try to keep him quiet…or keep him in check.
Pulling skeletons out of the closet is a popular deviced used by Republicans. It was what they used against President Clinton from the very moment
he stepped into the White House…and if the truth be told…before he even got there.
It was also a ploy that the Republicans 
used against Ted Kennedy to keep him out of the White House…and oftentimes as a means to try to keep him silence him and keep him quiet, and in his place. But Teddy was a fighter. Call him what they would…but he never backed down…or let it stand in his way when it came to standing up for what was right.
Which is why for the life of me…I cannot see why Democrats in Massachusetts did not turn out in full force to ensure that Ted Kennedy’s seat stayed Democratic?
Say what they will about the woman who was running for that seat. It still should not have mattered whether she got out and worked for it or not. Because at the end of the day…she didn’t really matter. But what really mattered was…that we continue to give Barack Obama all the support, aid…and help that he needs to get his job done…and done properly. And that cannot be done with a whole lot of complacency because people feel that Obama has not done anything since being in 
the White House. It has only been a few months.
By this time in his term…George Bush had alread squandered away the surplus that Bill Clinton had left on the books…when he departed from the White House following the end of his term as President. And then he kept on spending more and more
money…even though he had already gone through the reserve.
Which is why George Bush and his buddies were so hot to go after the Social Security money. They wanted to wreck that too…and leave all of us in a hole. Not to say that they didn’t leave us in a big fat pit anyways. Because they did.
It is like folk expect Obama to be some kind of a magican.
Who said change comes ‘over night?’
If it took all of 8 years to get us into this mess under George W. Bush. So, why should anybody believe it should take a few months or a year…or a couple of years to get us out of it?
It may well take all of Obama’s years and then some before we finally see any turn in the Bush mess. Because believe it or not…George W. Bush really did ‘a job’ on this country…on our country’s policies…and anything and everything else he could corrode…taint…or destroy.
Half of what Bush did to undermind this country is still yet to come to the forefront. After years of chaos and havoc…and ton loads of failed policies…a wars…and antagonzing our
friends…and allies…not to mention ‘the money.’ And then not to mention all the power brokering that set into motion a failed economy…that not only rocketed us but also the world into near bankruptcy…plus skyrocketing unemployment numbers…massive massive massive job losses due to lots of failing corporations…many which had been staples in our economy. Companies that churned out the very first automobilies…drafted the blue prints for them…and built them from nothing. Now gone… Or bought out by foreign entities.
What has happened to us?
Bush-nomics?
Perhaps…
And yes…Bush…and Bush senior…and everybody in between had a hand in it…when they started selling off America to the highest bidders…sending jobs overseas…seeking cheaper labor…and failed to look at the greater and bigger picture.
They lacked vision.
All they saw was a global market…a bigger world to take from. And how to weaken and get richer by.
But what happened to the vision?
Shouldn’t our leaders have some vision of where they want this country to go?
Where they are taking us?
What it should look like and be like in the next 10 or 20 years?
The Bible says-
“My people perish for lack of vision.”
Where are the visionaries?
Don’t we have any…any more?
When the Founding Fathers laid the foundation for the government of this country
they were looking in the future. They had an understanding of what the President should be like…his values…his morals…and his judgement. If they could step into this present time…I wonder what they would say. Perhaps there would be some tears…because it seems that the very things they tried prevent from happening over time came about. And they saw it…they realized the problems that certain selfish endeavors and alliances could bring about.
Even in my own town I see a lack of vision. It started years ago and has 
continued from administration to administration.
When I look at downtown Brooklyn and what Brooklyn 
has come to look like in the past few years…it all looks great. But…
When I look at 125th Street in Harlem…it looks okay. But…
What happened to the people who used to live there…the stores that used to be there…the business people who were forced out of their businesses because of higher rental rates…and eminent domain… etc…etc…?
When I look around and see all the vacant warehouses that used to house massive factory 
complexes and tons of workers…all that is gone now. And those places if they have not been torn down have all be turned into condos and/or artist work spaces.
Today you see everybody trying to get into health care. Of course a few years ago when AIDS first came upon the horizon…everybody began moving away from careers in the health field…but no more. In fact, you see more men than ever before opting to become nurses. It is all rather strange.
When I was back in college…practically everybody… Well, most of the women were
studying to become school teachers. Our campus did not have a nursing department…but today nearly most campus’ do. And there are tons of people vying to try to get into a good nursing program…which from what I hear they tend to be highly selective and very competive.
When I was in college you could always get a job as a bank teller, or a receptionist, or office clerk…telephone operator, switchboard operator, telemarketing person…etc., but all of those jobs for the most part are gone…meaning most of them no longer exist. Between banking machines, automated voices…and of course, the influx of computers millions of people and jobs have been shoved out…and onto the sidelines. Or should I say…into unemployment lines.
Today, I heard that the National Unemployment rate is 9.7% for Americans who are out of a 
job…and for African Americans the rate is vastly higher being…being 15.8%. Bush-nomics hard at work…
Wow.
To hear people talking about being out of work or 2 or more years…is really heartbreaking. It is hard to survive without a job…not knowing where your next dime is going to come from…going from month to month in uncertainity about your food…shelter…who is going to pay your bills…or what bill you can afford to pay this month. I do know the feeling…and can relate to anyone going through it.
There was a time you could be a home health attendant just by merely filling out an application. Now people need classes and have to take tests. And it seems that today even that kind of job is hard to find…when before they were always looking for people to fill those slots.
Times truly have changed…but one thing has not. People will continue to need and will have a need for good health care whether they have a job or not…and irregardless if they may be health today. With escalating prices…a system nearly now dominated by ‘for-profit’ entities
on all sides of the coin…people (the general public) need to be protected from them…and serviced properly by them…and with dignity. And that is what I hope that this bill just signed and brought about by President Obama will do.
Can you imagine that various Democratics have been targetted since having passed the bill?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/36026491#36026491
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/36026098#36026098
Can you imagine such hatered on the part of the Republicans…and those who have bought into their lies?
Cutting pipe lines…shooting pellet guns into windows…trashing Democrat’s offices…and throwing bricks. Definitely sounds like a bunch of spoiled little brats…those Republicans. What a bunch of sour and sore loosers.
I guess all that lying about Obama’s Health Care Reform Plan…fell upon deaf hears in the end…nor the calling the President a liar. With a vote of 220 to 207…the Democrats won…which finally allowed the bill to pass in the U. S. Senate.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_overhaul
While Sarah Palin called for the brainless to-
“Don’t retreat…but reload.”
Can you imagine such a woman ever sitting in the White House?
I understand that the real reason Palin bailed out of her office was because the people in Alaska were calling for her to be impeached. That sounds like a good reason to go running for the hills, and to leave her office in midst of her term.
Wouldn’t look so great now would it?
I mean not with all the bad press that that would have gotten her. The woman is truly a disaster.
On another note…while reading something other things over the internet I came across an 
article regarding Israel’s new attitude towards the United States.
“We don’t need America.”
Such a statement seems ludacris to me…after all these years of taking 
America’s money and being given our weapons…and actively seeking the support of America to defend and maintain them in the Middle East. Yes…that statement seems a bit odd to me.
I would hope that it does not stem from the fact that America now has a black…or African American President.
Least ways…I would hope not. But one must wonder. There could be no other reason. As though American suddenly has lost some level of power or authority in the world since Barack Obama went into office.
If anything we have regained a new level of respect…and respectability. And I have no doubt a greater level of security and a feeling of sincerity among our Allies fowlling the Bush era.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/234891
http://www.newsweek.com/id/234972
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/21/live_healthcare
I was happy to read the below article in it regards to President Obama’s support of Black Colleges and Univerisities. These historic institutions are so important to us. And deserve to aided as so many leading African American professionals emerge from them.
Besides blaming my ‘new found cousins’ from taking up all of my time…I am proud to inform you that soon you will be able to purchase my book, ‘THE BISHOP’S WIFE.’ And you will be able to do it in less than a couple of weeks.
I am trying now to rush and put the finishes touches on my web site…and finish off all of my stuff. Because when you go to my official website I want you to love it. It will have all kinds of info on my book, including excerpts for you to read…and info of course on me…photos…music…and information on all the other stuff that I am doing, and that I am involved in. It should be exciting.
Some of you have checked out my ‘Filedby’ CLINK to the right of this blog…and found purchase info on my book already. But if you hold off I will soon be offering an opportunity to get an advance copy for far less. So, just sit tight…because it is coming. And now you know why I have not written as many blogs lately.
Because yes…I have been busy…meeting new family members…and trying to launch my official BSMITH101 website…as well as…started planning my 2010 intenerary for my book tour this year. So, I hope that you will forgive me. I have not forgotten about you. And hopefully soon I will be back on schedule.
Well, God bless…
Oh, yeah… I am sure that you have probably realized 
that the weather has finally broken. We are coming into Spring…and it feels good. So, let us take one last look at my winter scenes as we now look towards the warmer weather. It is definitely on its 
way.
I just love these pictures though. But the ones to come will be so much more welcoming.
Well, God bless…
And oh, yes…one other thing. In having found our long lost relatives in Alaska…where it really is dark for 6 months and light for 6 months…(I had to 
ask if it was true). Not only that but my cousin, Jean…told me that on any given day…they are subject to running into 
a moose. Which they have to pay attention to whether or not his…or her…ears are down and their hair is standing up…which means ‘look out.’ Because it could charge at you at any moment.
It all sounds a bit like living out in the wilderness to me. Because…well… Because of the bears. Yes…I said bears. And there are 3 types…one you can-www.kewlwallpapers.com.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.humanbearconflict.org/species-polar.htm&usg=__C_696KvDBd5jzH__I34g6jpD4BM=&h=332&w=443&sz=17&hl=en&start=93&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=zr3M9-u-OE7QuM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpictures%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bblack%2Bbear,%2Bpolar%2Bbear%2Band%2Bbrown%2Bbear%26start%3D80%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1)
fight off…the black bear.
Then there is the brown bear…and of course…the polar bear. Both of which are no joke… and will eat you.
Yes…it sounds a bit too wilderness-ery to me. And they live in downtown 
Anchorage. And this picture…of course…is Anchorage in the summer…where they do have 24 hours of light all summer long. Unbelievable.
And in discovering our lost relatives…we also have 
found out what Native American Indian tribe my family belongs to. It is the Seminole Indians. Which I will have you know is the only indian tribe in America that never signed a peace treaty. I just had to go up on their site to find out about them. I would love to meet our family on that side as well.
I wonder if it is possible?
Wow… this is soooooo interesting.
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.
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 March 25, 2010
New Year’s Eve 2009…
I just finshed singing ‘Happy Birthday to you’ to my son. Who as I guess you can 
tell…that he is a New Year’s Eve baby… Well, not quite a baby any more.
I am looking forward to 2010…not that 2009 wasn’t great, but I just feel like so much more so this coming year.
It is hard to believe that we are 10 years into 2000. Remember all 
the predictions of doom that were flying about going into 2000? I forgot what they called it now… (K2-Y or something like that)…since nobody ever mentions it any more. But the whole computer system was supposed to crash and much of everything else. Everything was predicted to going be thrown out of whack too. None of which never happened…not one thing. But many people believed those predictions of gloom and doom up until we stepped into 2000 and crossed over into it without a glitch.
I guess it was the fear of the unexpected. We had all after all lived our entire lives in nothing but 
1900’s only. So, to be around and step into a new century was quite a big thing. But we made it. And during these past few years at the start of this new time in history, we have witnessed many changes…suffered some losses…and gained some things, I guess too.
For 1, we got our first non-white President in this country that we all love so near dear…and I mean that sincerely. Though we complain…there is still no country like America. And perhaps will never be.
We are not faultness. True we have had our faults. Our share of mistakes…mis-steps…poor judgments…and made some stupid decisions…as well as, many other countries. But then no one is perfect. And with each passing day we all hopefully endeavor, however, to become so. At least it is our hope.
There is still much up-roar around the world…and uncertainty. Much evil 
and madness… wars… and disputes between various government states… cultures… and religious groups. People suffering from displacement being run off their homelands…drug lords terrorizing and mudering innocent people…religious fanatics targeting anyone or anything unlike them…and then…just some plain lunatics. And they are everywhere.
The days when nations sent out their best and strongest gadiators to do 
battle for the sank of settling disputes between arguing or
warring villages or states…is long gone. The UN had been set up so that men might talk out their disputes and differences…but that too has pretty much fallen by the wayside too. Everybody wants to be a super State…or become a rogue nation.
For some reason man seems through time and development…industralization…and 
the creation of more superior and deadly weapons, has become more and more violent, and eager to engage in everything but peaceful negoiation.
With 90 more years to go before we enter 3ooo…will we survive?
Will there be anyone left to tell the story…and to welcome in another New Year?
Then there is Mother Nature…global warming…eco-condamination and our overall 
lack to sincerely considering our place on this planet, as though we can really jet off to another planet…and leave Mother Earth behind once we have finished her completely off.
I don’t know…I didn’t really intend to say any of this. But I guess that even though I don’t really talk about it much…and certainly wasn’t aware that I thought about it to this degree either. Funny…I never realized these things colored my thinking sub-consciously. But then I am a mother…and an aunt of some great and many nieces and nephews, who will still be here long after I’m dead and gone. So, I guess I have to consider what this world be like for them…if not for my own sake alone.
Will there still be clean water…or enough of it for them in years to come?
Or would somebody have dropped a dirty bomb…and nothing will be here by 3000?
I don’t know…but I am looking forward to a great and very busy 2010. And as I go into the New Year I will make certain to pray for our President and his family…and all those people on Capital Hill who make decisions that effect the course of this country and
shapes our policies and dealings with foreign governments…and other entities. That they will do so with a calm head…and with a mind that their votes and actions matter beyond party lines. That they have vision…and look into the future to ensure that they do nothing to destroy this place…or the people who live upon it.
I plan on being very busy this year. I have a couple business ventures that I plan on opening up this year. My book, The Bishop’s Wife, of course will finally be out…and I will be going out on a book tour. I also intend to shoot my 
film…‘LIFE 101 da real skool’…this year. So, I guess you can say that plan on being in labor (as with child) most of this coming year…as I plan on birthing a few things in 20-10.
I hope that you will be busy this coming year too…and that you will reap much success in all your endeavors. And whatever needs you may have… I pray God steps in and works them out for you. Enjoy your New Year’s… and the very best this forthcoming year.
We are definitely in the midst of winter now…and there is no doubt about it. It is freezing cold. But God is yet good. I hope that you keep warm and always remember those who may not have all the comforts that you do.
There are so very many things to be thankful for…so much that we take for granted.
It is good just to be able to get up in the morning…and 
do for for yourself. To be able to walk 
outside…buy what you want…do what you want. To drink a glass of water when you want to. To have food in your refrigerator…and in your cupboards. To able to turn your heat up or down…to have
hot water…a bed to lay in…and a place where you are safe. So many people lack these simple things. We are bless…truly.
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.
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