Posts filed under: ‘gas prices‘
To spite their nose….
We have all heard that saying-
“They or she or he is cutting off his ….or her ….or their nose in spite of their face.”
What it simply means is that they…he…or she…because of some problem…dislike …hate or some type of disdain of their face…decide to get rid of or destroy …or remove …have redone that nose “in spite of their face.” Or in other words… they end up destroying …or making a bigger mess to their face.
You know in thinking about this it makes me think of all those 
plastic surgery mistakes…the things that people decided that they wanted to corrected about their face or some part of their body. They decide that the plastic surgeon is able to give them ‘that’ look which they have always wanted. So, they set up an appointment with the plastic surgeon to have the work done. Low and behold when the wrappings come 
off…they discover that something went wrong. The surgery did not turn out as they both thought…them and the plastic surgeon who did the work. What they thought was so bad before is now made worst…and there is no going back to the way it was.
Whatever the plastic surgeon gave them is what they end up with…whether they like it or not.
When we go into the ballot box and elect public officials we do it believing that we are voting in people who are working on our ‘behaves.’ Not people who desire to be voted into public office to fulfill their own personal…or even party 
agendas.
Today we are faced with a dilemma of the un-abidding politician. The crafty person who solicited your vote only to turn around and do everything ‘but’ what you voted them in to do. In fact, they do things which are against you and endangers you, your family…your community, city and state…because of some personal political agenda.
This agenda can easily be called ‘the undoing of America. Or a very evident attempt to do so on the parts of the Republican Party.
How in the world did America get to this place?
Can racism be the sole force for what is happening concerning Republican governors and their decisions to change state policies and connection to the larger and greater picture… called the ‘United States’ of America.
A friend posted a notice on my facebook page about the governor of Michigan’s plan to turn cities in Michigan over to what amounts to ‘corporate takeovers.’ By simply declaring a state of emergency and some type of financial woe over a Michigan township or city…and then allow the corporations to have power to determine the policies and contracts to those cities and/or towns at will.
The Republicans talk about government becoming too big. And perhaps it is.
In what country have you ever heard this?
Yes, perhaps government is too big. So big, in fact, that any given elected politician can turn on his or her own constituents and feel that they have the freedom to do so…simply because they were ‘voted in.’ Something is wrong with this picture. And it has nothing to do with our system of government… but more to do with deceit on the part of some voted in… and also upon our feelings of powerlessness once we have voted them in.
But in this country there is a thing called ‘impeachment.’ The people have power. Do not allow politicans to continue to wheel and deal as they like without you… the people taking up arms and going 
out against them. And when the time for elections come around again Republicans need to hear loud and clear that Americans all across this country will no longer suffer them, and their under-handed ways of trying to control and restrain the will of the people at large. Or their continued undermining of this country.
It seems that Republicans have declared that if they can’t run America they will tear it apart…state by state…section by section…. class by class… line by line and precept by precept. And in spite of all of our noses.
It is so amazing that after all that George Bush did…no matter how bad…or how many lies… or the number of lives lost in a highly senseless war that not only continues to take lives… which has also substantially 
driven up our gas prices… and the cost of everything else. Not to even mention Bush sending this country to near collapse…throwing America back into a depression with the collapse of the banks, Wall Street, the American dollar …and millions upon millions of jobs lost due to Bush Economics. And no governor in this country ever mentioned much less thought 
about not accepting any government funds in protest… or about going after unions… or any undermining of Bush policy in any way.
So, why now?
When this country was sent wheeling and plummeting due to Bush ‘nomics… (lets just call it that) why did not any of these so-called ‘so fed-up’ with government spending and management of this country people …where were they then…who are now espousing that they are listening to the will of the people. Where were they during all of the Bush lies? Of which none of them even refer to in any shape or form or in any way whatsoever… even now. But yet rather lay the faults of such …and all that deceit of their own party upon the shoulders of President Barack 
Obama… the man who is now the White House and trying to rectify the messes of George Bush. 
Yeah…right. Obama is to blame…and while you are at it just blame him for everything.
And with that make no mention of how Obama has managed to stabilized the whole Bush situation from the wars to our economy…and even jobs. Yes, jobs are back on the raise. All of this after 
the near total and absolute disastrous collapse of this country brought about by George Bush…a Republican. Who shut the doors to the White House and operated in the most close-door and tight lip operation of the White House of any President of this country in history.
This country is under attack and the attack is not coming from without.
Beware of the Trojan horse…it is called the Republican Party.
Well, God bless…
Oh, yes…before closing. Let me just say what an out and out racist Donald Trump has proven himself to be with all his ridiculous chatter about Obama not being American …and that he had people down in Hawaii to prove it. What an egomaniac imbecile. Be it all for hype or not (and I think not). At any rate we have all seriously gotten an opportunity to see ‘the real’ Donald Chump. I mean Trump.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704187604576288811924282824.html
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
Comments Off on To spite their nose…. April 27, 2011
Racism in America is alive and well… and growing… Beck in the dog house…
Who in the world is Glen Beck?
I had never heard of him before until coming across this internet article on him during his radio program imitating the President’s daughter.
Upon listening to the radio program in question…as it is included in the article… all I could think of was the black face comic skits that white people 
used to do of black people. They would mimmick 
our voices making us sound as dumb and as ignorant as possible…while having covered their faces with some kind of black oily face paint. And then they would paint on their faces some excessively big lips.
All of this they did in stupid attempts at making fun of not only how we talk, pretending to think and reason like us aloud…and, of course, supposedly depicting what our facial features look like. It was all done to belittle us as a group of people, and also to make Black folks feel unequal, backwards and ignorant people. All of which was and is a lie…then and now.
The fact that Barack Obama may well be the most intelligent man to hit the White House… which maybe the root to this whole problem.
The 2nd problem for some of these back in the Dark Ages back woods ignorant racists…is that President Obama may also prove to be a 
greater President than Franklin Dalano Roosevelt. Oh, no… that can’t possibly happen. But based upon the set-up left behind by George W. Bush it could become true.
Roosevelt’s fame as a President came from the mess he stepped into as a President. Stepping into the White House following Herbert Hoover, a
Republican and the 31st President of the United States…he sank the country into one big mess. Therefore, Roosevelt inherited an United States that was suffering. The Stock Market had crashed and dire poverty covered the land from coast to coast due to the Great Depression.
http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/hoover/essays/biography/1
Roosevelt was the creator of ‘The New Deal.’ With the New Deal Roosevelt ushered in a new America…a reformed America and a series of new social programs designed to aid and assist the needy, and to strengthen and mobilize America back onto the road of recovery.
Often we have heard that history repeats itself. If this is indeed so…many then can see where President Barack Obama is set on the path to do for America what Roosevelt did for America some 78 years ago.
There is no doubt also that America when Barack Obama was elected in as 
the President of the United States a year ago, had been left in a questionable place and a time of vast uncertainty and downcline around the world. Allies around the world questioned our stability, truthfulness and fortitude as a still world leader after years of rule under the moral degradation and lies of George W. Bush as President of America.
Obama inherited a crashing Stock Market, a collapsing World Banking system, a
rapidly dwindling American dollar, skyrocketing fuel and gas prices, the highest ever in America… record numbers of out of work Americans, soaring health and medical costs with record numbers of Americans without any form of health care policies, corrupt leaning and borrowing systems, with record numbers of Americans being forced into 
the streets due to foreclosures, and soaring out of control country financial deficit fueled by 2 wars without a seemingly end…and much more. All of which had happend under the 8 years of administration and rule of George
W. Bush. And also under the Bush Administration, America for the 2nd time in her history was attack on her own soil…September 11th, known as 9-11. Where thereafter all kinds of other attempts, boomings and plagues came about.
If you examine the mess that Obama inherited including those things which generally come up during the term of a President… such as the BP oil spill in the Gulf…and when Russia decided to
invade Georgia, in the Baltics… you find that Presidents have to deal with all kinds of things…including unforseen natural disasters. But it doesn’t make it their fault. Though much of what happened under George Bush’s watch was.
Now, I am going to vent.
I am so tired of reading all these articles where people refer to our President Barack Obama using a small ‘p.’ It is so annoying to me. I 
absolutely hate reading anything about him written this way. It is so disrespectful to Obama.
I know that Obama being the man that he is pretends that it does not bother him…but he is an intelligent man, a historian and a man of letters. Meaning he has read all kinds of documents and 
articles past and present on all past Presidents of the United States, as it was for 1 thing…his field of study. And I am sure he has also noticed that at no other time has any other President of this country ever been 
referred to in any form of text using a lower case ‘p’ as has become the practice when writing articles about Obama.
Thus, to do so when referring to Obama is not only disrespectful but an act of racism. An act of out and out racism and I do not care what anyone else says. And it is all a campaign purposefully set to down grade and minimize Obama, his efforts, his effectiveness and his success.
But I want to let you know… every last one of you that it won’t work. Just like they say in that gospel song…it just won’t work.
Obama is going to be great in spite of you.
And he is going to be as successful…if not more successful than Roosevelt. And that if for no other reason than because some many racists want to see him fail…with Palin and that whole Republican machine riding in the front car.
But the Bible says…that he whom the Lord has blessed is blessed indeed.
And Obama is blessed…his family is blessed…his children are blessed…and this country shall be blessed because of him. 
If anyone has any doubts about whether Barack Obama is blessed just go back and look at those photos of his inaugural. Look at all those people who flowed into Washington, D.C. to celebrate with him and his family. And check all his record numbers…record number in the amount of money contributed to his campaign…the most money ever give
n to any political campaign ever. Record number in contributions from people who have never 
contributed to a politician ever. Highest number of voter turn out ever. And the numbers continue on and on in regard to Obama’s accomplishments.
He shall be like Solomon because God has set 
his course for him over this nation. And if you doubt it go back to his mother, and how she used to 
wake him up at 4 AM in the morning to go over and learn American History. Obama’s path was laid for him long before Obama was born.
Therefore, as it is said in the Scriptures…no weapon formed against him shall prosper. Meaning all the evil works being performed against him will come to nought. Every vote 
meant to hold him back and hinder a bill that he is trying to put through will be turned around, and go against those who are trying to oppose him and stop his progress…or hold up his candidates for offices.
Another Scripture says this…that what the devil means for evil God will turn it around for your good. Meaning the all the name calling, opposition and hindering in Congress and the Senate will be turned around for Obama’s good. Already I can see this happening in that Obama is becoming a lot sharper and more posed when attacks come against him publically. He is definitely far more Presidential now, and I am sure he would have more of a targeted response for anyone who should suddenly decide it smart to call him ‘liar’ again while he is speaking before the Senate. I have no doubt of it.
I am proud of Obama and I know that he is no joke. And he is not going to continue to allow people to treat him as one.
And as far as this Beck person goes… Well, I just hope that he has no children. I cannot 
imagine what he would do if someone so cruelly and purposely poked fun at his little daughter…and made a joke out of her.
I also hope that none of the children in Obama’s daughter class have heard that stupid radio clip. What an ignorant thing to do. And these people call themselves adults…but are too afraid stand up in front of Obama and say what they have to say.
No, they’ll do it from behind a microphone…and then issue out an apology from somewhere. A bunch of cowards. That is all they are…a bunch of racist ignorant cowards.
But then I guess I can kind of understand why some should be jealous 
of Obama. I mean after all…not only is he a great husband… but also a very loving and caring father. He is also handsome…and looks well in everything he wears. He’s smart…tall…and doesn’t have a problem with his weight. He’s athletic…and he has a beautiful and highly intelligent wife. And 2 very beautiful and intelligent…and very well behaved daughters. And oh, yeah…also an important part… a mother-in-law who loves him as well.
So, yes he is well on his way to be the most powerful and successful President of this country of all times…who will be spoken of and the measure that those who follow him shall be measured by. Of this I am sure.
So, yes…you who want to see Obama fail…I can see why. But instead of 
attacking Obama you should start working on your own life…and get it in order so that you too will have something to be proud of . Because I can tell you are a bunch of very sad and lonely people…and highly disappointed people… out attacking a little girl?
Come on, now. And you call yourself a man, Beck?
Go stand in front of Obama and mimmick his daughter…and I want to see what happens to you. I bet you are afraid to do that.
And is it true that BP stands for British Petroleum?
And is it also true that Halliburton, Dick Cheney’s former employer and big time war profiteer and scam artist… is over the operation of BP in the Gulf ?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/37519216#37521148
Could possibly be a set-up?
Anything to make Obama look bad. With all the talk and Obama blaming you would think that Obama owned BP. And that he could automatically go down and just plug up a hole nearly 5,000 feet below the water surface…leaking over 5,000 barrels of oil each day.
It is not a pin hole. And the problem really belongs to BP…without a doubt it is a major concern to not only President Obama and those people down in the Gulf/Atlantic Ocean area. And probably might affect us all…but it is clearly a concern of Obama’s youngest 
daughter just as well. We can all tell that she is well briefed…and is growing up quite civic minded.
And we should all have a sincere appreciation for all children who cares about others…not make a joke or poke fun at them for any reason.
Monday is Memorial Day. We 
should all take a moment or 2 to reflect on the sacrifices of others, that we might all live here free and out of harms way. Thankful for all the freedoms we hold so dear…never forgetting the price paid and being paid so that we might stand in our liberty here in the United States.
I hadn’t thought about it for a while… but I had all but forgotten about the war. Since stopping even turning on the television to watch the news… so those images are no longer before me. It sadden me reading the list of names per week of young men and women who were killed in Iraq. Many of them just 19. And every so often you would see a name with an age of 
28…or 29 and above…and I would think of all their families that they left behind giving of their lives for an America not yet quite grown up.
While they huddled together with bullets flying over heads… or booms dropping nearby… or 
right in their midst… yet they marched on… fought on… for an America not yet totally grown up. A place where division and strife still lives on …while they struggle in foreign lands that we might proclaim peace …while we yet still pull against 
one another.
I salute them and pray that one day this country will live up to what was the dream and the creed to which those men who signed their names…signed their names… to which they all marched off to war and became involved for… those soldier who fought and died in our name.
Well, enjoy your day off.
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
2 comments May 30, 2010
Nothing in particular… Obama and Michelle’s weekend retreat… and on wisdom… sex psychopaths…
Yesterday I got soaking wet. Today I went out thinking it would be warmer…but I quickly found out I was wrong.
When I first stepped outside yesterday the sun was shinning, and all was well. But while standing at the bus stop the skies suddenly turned dark…and shortly thereafter came 1 little sprinkle followed by another. And before long it was all over I was soaked, and the bus was nowhere in sight.
Today, while riding on the bus…which is why this month I decided to buy me a bus pass since my son 
started
complaining about me using his car. It is just as well…I really don’t mind…though the buses are a bit small and can be not as clean as I would always like. But I got tired to listening to my son sounding as though I’ve been taking advantage of him. So, I bought me a bus pass…now nobody can complain.
But while riding the bus today I overheard a woman say-
“They got 2 feet of snow today.”
I do not know who they were…or where they was. But I do know that that sounds bad for us.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/blankets-246326-northeast-snow.html?pic=1
Here it is almost May…and it is still snowing.
Yes, it sounds very bad for us. Because I know that the snow is on its way here too. There is no getting around it. Plus, it is cold. And cold enough now to go back to wearing our winter coats.
It is hard to believe that just a few days ago it was in the 90’s. But that is gone now…and been gone now for more than a week.
But least ways when I went away for the weekend this time…I didn’t come back to any frozen water 
pipes, and water all over the place. And I didn’t have to worry about the cat being left in a cold house due to our furnace still being out. But if all things work out this summer my winter will be very different come October, November, December etc…etc…of this year. Yes…very very different.
So, we were on the road again this pass weekend, and needless to say we had to travel through some rain. But it was beautiful nonetheless. And one of the best parts is…is that while on the road we saw no accidents.
That is not to say that we did not meet up with some traffic. But there were no accidents. And I just thank the Lord for that.
I now have grown to not only pray that we travel safely but also everybody on the road with us does too. And though I never thought of it before…it does indeed make a lot of sense to do so.
Just think about that.
When I started this blog I thought that I had a lot to say. But right now I can’t think anything outside 
of the weather…and I’ve already mentioned that.
What else did I want to talk about?
I just do not know.
I was awaken from my sleep early yesterday morning. It was one of the church ladies calling me. She had called me saying-
“We lost Deek last night at about 11:30.”
It made me think of the last time I had been with them. I was in New York City and it was the night
before the New York City Marathon.
I had gotten into the city late and had found a great parking spot not too far from their apartment building. My plan was to get up early…about 4 or 5 AM and move my car as I knew that the Marathon went right pass their building. But when I went out to move my car early that morning…it was gone. And all I could think about was the New York City 
Towing Hell that I was bound to be in due to getting towed.
First of all, the car was a rental and that was a problem right there. Since, when they tow in New York they want you to submit papers on the car…all of which were inside the car. Since we didn’t own the car…it meant that they were going to send me to the rental place to have them give me documentation on the car and that I was going to have to be the valid driver. Of which I was not…since my son had rented the car for me. And he, of course, was hundreds of miles away back home.
So, this meant trouble. I could hear my son talking to me as I stared at the spot where the rental car had been parked. And I dredded calling him.
Because it meant that he was going to have to get up, get dress and now drive in to New York City…something that I knew he was not going to want to do. And certainly was something that he wasn’t going to be happy of doing it either.
So, I put in the call. He didn’t answer. And I took a deep breath of relief…it was after all now just about all of 4:30 in morning.
The street was clear…no cars anywhere. But the roadway was filled with squad cars riding up the avenues and crossroads making sure everything had been towed. Turing I went back into the building feeling that I was in for it now…and wondering how much all of this was going to cost me?
By the time I got back upstairs and explained the situation to Deek and his wife…he ask me-
“Did you go and look on the other streets?”
That was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard.
Why would I go walking around to look for my car when it was obvious that it had been towed?
And all I could think about was how mad my son was going to be hearing this.
So, I finally decided to go back downstairs to try and find out where they had towed it to. And get directions to get there.
By this time Deek had gone out on the balcony trying to still tell me that I should walk around looking for my car. I thought he was loosing it.
Why would they pick up my car to tow it just to set it back down somewhere else outside of a car bound?
Was what I kept thinking in my mind. When they tow your car in New York City…you are in big trouble. And you better have cash…if you want any hope of getting your car back.
Downstairs I walked out to the street and flagged down one of the police squad cars to asked them about my car being towed. And they directed me to call the precinct. And when I did it was just like Deek had said.
We laugh about it now. I have to smile every time I think of it. It makes me think of wisdom every time…this story…and those of us who lack it. We don’t even have good enough sense to know wisdom when we hear it. We pass it up thinking that it is foolishness. That is what I thought Deek was telling me…foolishness when he kept saying that I needed to walk around looking for my car. 
He had wisdom over a situation which I thought I knew everything…after having been towed more that a few times in New York. Sometimes we can be so foolish because we think that older people don’t know nothing. That they are off the mark…far removed from things…and even at times lack real understanding of things…or knowledge of things. But nothing can be further from the truth.
Oftentimes given a chance their wisdom far exceeds any mere thoughts we could have on the matter. As such was this case.
To me it sounded ludacris that my rental car was picked up to clear the roadway for the Marathon runners only to have the City of New York without any profit to themselves re-assign me another parking space. But that is just what they did…and Deek knew it. While during the whole time I refused to pay him any attention. And you know…he never held that against me.
Even that shows great wisdom. How many people would have been mad…or become upset because you discounted their suggestions or ideas?
But Deek didn’t.
So many older people get kicked to the curb and totally disregarded simply because they are older. People refuse to believe that they have anything legitimate to offer…all because they are aged. But age breeds wisdom. It brings about a plethora of experiences and knowledge. A richness that we just should not pass up…or so freely let get away from us because we lack the wisdom to see just how valuable they are to us.
While on the road we caught the news over the radio that the President and First 
Lady, Obama and Michelle were taking a little weekend-get-away together. I grinned and my sister turned to me smiling saying-
“I love them.”
And I just loved hearing that they stopped and got some ribs.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/travel/bal-trav-obama-weekend-0423,0,6829607.photogallery
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20003269-503544.html
I just happened not long ago to come across this story listed below.
http://www.aolnews.com/story/ny-wants-man-who-spread-hiv-locked-up/1035429?cid=10
And if you took the time to read it then you realize that the story is about some black man who 
purposely passed the HIV/AIDS virus to 13 women. And that there seems to be a debate about what should be done with him.
What are they debating?
Spreading AIDS knowingly is like taking a loaded gun, aiming it at someone’s head and pulling the trigger killing them. So, what is there to think about? 
The guy should clearly be thrown into prison and never released ever again.
Why should he be allowed to walk around…enjoying himself while he knows that he committing someone else to a death sentence?
AIDS kills…and not everybody has the resources of 
a Magic Johnson to sustain them and their medical needs. The medication for AIDS treatment is not only very costly but they have to take tons of different types of medicine. I will never forget all the pills my
cousin Vincent had to take daily. And I have seen what that type of death looks like…and it is not pretty.
I have seen youth turn into the very old…go from being very fit 
and carefree to bent over and broken, with all types of medical problems and conditions that most of us never have to think about because our system works fighting off everything and anything that might try to invade 
our bodies. But their system does not…it can’t.
I saw a 34 year old man turn into an old man before very my eyes. He could barely operate his hands, walk or hear well. Vincent became old…a senior man at 34 years of age. Had I not seen it I would have not known anything about AIDS…but I saw how it ravaged his body and stole his youth 
and everything else from hm.
No one should be allowed to purposely inflict that disease upon anyone. Such a person is quilty of murder. And clearly after reading what his mother had to say…I 
can see why he is the person he came to be.
When I was teaching…I recall one day that 1 of my student’s mother came to school to pay me a visit. Upon meeting my student’s mother I realized why I had the problems I had with her daughter. Or perhaps I should say…why she was having the problems that she was having with me. Because in my class I do not have problems with students…but there had been some students who may of have had a problem or 2 with me.
This girl’s mother came to my class and she…her mother…had to have been an utter embarrassment to
her daughter. The woman was very un-rulely and out of order….but at the end some of my students while handing in their work gave me their take on it that situation. And you know what they said?
They said-
“I had my money on you.”
Smart kids.
I think that that girl’s mother thought that I was going to back down or become intimidated. But that was far from the case…though she did everything she could to get me to be so. Needless to say that mother never visited me again…and I don’t think I ever had any more problems out of her daughter.
But when her mother came to my class I could see why the girl was like she was. She was very much like her mother. But in my class and classes I lived by one motto-
“It was going to be either them or me.”
And I made up my mind early that it was always going to be me. I was going to be the one in charge and who ruled my classes…and not my students or any one student over me. No…and that went doublely fo
r mothers.
Some mothers are the reason why their children are the way that they are. Many men children are not men because…
Well, because of their mothers.
The weight and impact of ‘mother’ upon the lives of her children or child is great. It can either enable them or aid in making them become strong, fully thinking and functioning adults with high hopes of success in their lives.
http://hubpages.com/hub/DONT-BE-AN-ENABLER
Clearly, anyone wishing to get back at women or others because they have contracted AIDS is a person not willing to take their own personal responsibility in the matter. There are so many people who go around blaming others for everything wrong in their life.
It would seem to me…not that I know a whole lot on this subject…but knowing that so much is out there besides AIDS, that it just makes sense to use good common sense and judgment. Personally, I am an advocate of abstining…but if you love sex that much that you can’t protect yourself then why blame anyone else?
I knew that there was something that I wanted to write about. And now I have found it.
Can you imagine that…the possibility of possibly really finding Noah’s Ark?
It might just be some large ship that became ship wrecked many years ago. I doubt that Noah’s Ark will ever be found. It is not that I doubt the story…but what purpose would it serve God for Noah’s Ark to be found?
None. So, therefore, God would not leave it around to be uncovered several thousands of years later.
But it does make for an interesting story though doesn’t it?
And before I close I have to mention this. Perhaps my son has been so mad at me 
over his car because I never stop for gas. And it was until we hit the road that I realized that the gas prices had gone up so much. It was costing $4 plus in New York. Mannnnnn……
While on our little road trip this weekend I also got my first chance to publicly talk about my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE. And I was pleasantly surprised at how well it went.
And you know what?
I didn’t even think about getting nervous. There was a time I would never have done it…and certainly not as freely and as well as I happened to present my book to these people this weekend.
I guess I am growing.
Well, enjoy your day…and night.
And 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…
3 comments April 29, 2010
$789 Billion reached… its February…
At last they have reached an agreement on the stimulus bill which will 
hopefully create jobs and get this economy back up and running. Though I must admit to not being one of those who was hit by the problems going on with the economy…I must always say that I am concerned about others.
Many people did suffer and are suffering because the economy took a deep plunge under George W. Bush. I doubt whether gasoline prices will ever get back down to $.99…but it would be nice.
Wouldn’t it?
We take so much for granted until it is gone. We never knew just how good we had it until gas prices at the pump started getting over 
$3.00…and when they neared $4.00…and did hit $4.00 and over in some places…we suddenly realized the party was over.
Food prices went up…everything…you name it and it all went up…due to some lousy war in Iraq that nobody wanted in the first place but George Bush and his people. If the after-effect could have been seen before hand I doubt that little ol’ George would have stood a chance at getting that war started. Well…maybe I should take that back.
The fact is…is that there were some pretty greedy people pushing for that war. You saw them at the Republican National 
Convention…they were holding up signs that read ‘prosperity.’
You do remember seeing those signs all actively displayed around the
Republican National Convention floor this past August? Many of those very people realized what the outcome was going to be…long before hand. In fact, they were hoping for it.and began buying like crazy whatever they could on the stock market. They care about nothing… but… prosperity …at any cost.
They went into the stock market and started buying up everything that had to do with heating, utility companies, insulating, home improving, coal mining, oil drilling, trucking, food…etc. Oh, they saw it coming…and they knew it would come big. So, what did they do…they pushed for the war.
They were going to go into Iraq and squander it…rob it…pillage it…destroy those museums and take every artifact, painting, golden vessel and piece of pottery they could find…and smuggle it out of that country.
Then they were going to set themselves up as the saviors and peacekeepers of the place…while all the while looting it and the American taxpayers too with bogus invoices…and double billing ploys…while thousands of American people innocent sons and daughters lost their lives fighting in a senseless war brought about by greed.
It did not make sense for the United States of America to arbitrarily begin a preempted strike on Iraq…when all the world was against it
and most of the American people. Iraq had not done anything to us. Nor were we under threat by them.
What?
For a man and his 2 sons. Two ton bombs were unleashed upon those people, their homes, their businesses, their infrastructure, their schools 
etc…night after night upon building after building.
That could not have been about Saddam Hussein and his 2 boys. It was
greater than them…it had to be. The expense and tally was too great to just desire to depose a tyrant and his sons.
Could it have all been for profit?
As Barack Obama came into office as President of the United States…72 hours later Blackwater pulled out of Iraq…and the others are following. And a country is being left in devastation.
I have heard somewhere about how ‘leaving something in a better state 
than when you found it.’
The state of the Iraqi people has 
changed…but many would argue whether or not it is a better state than when George Bush and his boys went into it.
So, yes…I am happy that the Senate has finally stopped hemming and hawing. Everybody is trying to make some points…it is so…so…like politicians. The Republicans held it up…so the Democrats couldn’t get the credit…when they knew all the time that they were going to have to pass the stimulus package or else face the music again come another election period.
You would think those dog gone Republicans would learn.
They can stop the band…but they can’t stop the music.
Hooray, for the passage of Obama’s stimulus package. Now, maybe some of these companies will not have to continue to lay people off or fire them. Jobs are very much needed…they help to pay the bills. And they are good when you want to go somewhere…you’ll have money to do it with.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/congress_stimulus
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/us/politics/12stimulus.html_r=1&hp
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=11990303&ch=4226716&src=news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3089379.stm
Well, First Lady Michelle Obama will grace the cover of Vogue magazine next month (March)…making her only the 2nd First Lady to do so.
I have been trying to find a picture somewhere on the internet…but alas…to no avail.
I has to be out on newsstands by now…not to mention out in the mailboxes of thousands who subscribe.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/10/AR2009021001579.html?hpid=topnews
February is just one of those months…I suppose that much of it has to do with the passing of my mother during the first of this month some years ago…as to why I tend to be quiet and rarely have much to say. I had been wondering why I had so much to do…and seemed to not want to do any of it. I had forgotten that it was February.
Even with these blogs by this time during a regular month I would have done at least 4 to 5 of them already…but this is only my second since the month
has begun. Oh, I am not as bad as I used to be…there was a time not so long ago either that every month and every day was just like the day she had passed. Even my being able to form and shape the word ‘passed’…in my mouth or mind in connection to my mother is something new for me. I could never put the 2 words together…‘she passed’ for years upon years.
I never wanted to accept that she was…was…was gone.
I am who I am because I was given the very best of everything by God. I had the best mother…and the best father.
My parents never discussed with me the fact that I was gay. There was never a mention of it…though they knew. I had bought most of my girlfriends by the house…so, they had met some of them. But they never discussed anything about gayness or gay people with me. They never called anyone names…or talked negatively about anything.
When I called home from Chicago…to tell my mother that I was pregnant. Yes…gay me…pregnant. It is a rather long story…but in short it happened because I became depressed over loosing a lover. I began thinking that maybe the life (gay life) was not for me. So, I decided I would try the other side. And the one time I did…BAM. I was pregnant.
Being gay I was very naive about straight life. I would have never have thought about protection or anything like that…because… Well, because I had never had a boyfriend…and had never dated in my life until I got into gay life…which was sometime during the age of 25. And I had my son when I was 28.
I must say that I am a strong advocate for ‘pro-choice.’ Without choice I may have chosen differently. I did think about abortion…even called 
the abortion hotline. But when that lady started talking about ‘full anesthesia’ or ‘partial anesthesia.’ And I thought if it was going to hurt either way…then I might as well have the baby.
So, much for my analytical process at that time. But I thank God…I made the right choice. I could not image life without my son…who is the best thing that ever happened to me. And he is definitely a far better person than his mother…honestly.
So, I called home and I tell my mother. I don’t even know what I said…or how I phrased it or whether I just came right out and said it. Nor can I remember what my mother said to me upon hearing that. I am sure that perhaps she may have believed that I might not ever have any children…as I was gay.
Nor can I remember how long it took me to pick up the phone to call my parents to tell them that I was pregnant. I had to have been months…because I knew that they would be disappointed.
But I remember what my father said upon my arrival home during my 7th month of pregnancy…after my mother had sent one of my sisters to Chicago to bring me home.
My father said-
“Now, you will never be alone.”
That was the extent of it.
“Now, you will never be alone.”
He was right. I am not alone. I am now the matriarch of our family…which continues to grow even in their absence. And they would proud.
But during the entire period of my mother’s lifetime…I had never shown 
much interest as an older child or an adult child in church or church matters. I rarely went…and was so happy when I finally moved out of my parent’s house…just so I wouldn’t have to continue going to church.
Today, the church is my whole focus. I can’t imagine what my mother would say. But I know she would smile and be happy. Because it is true…it is what you put into your children that matters. Yes, they may wander but somehow…what was pour into them when they were young will surface in their lives at some point.
It’s February…Black History Month…and as tears stream out of my 
eyes as I write this thinking about my mother. I am so thankful for those who walked before us…they poured something in…and today it has surfaced. Many years of insults and 
degradation. But today…the number one person in the world is a black man. I am so happy…that my nieces, my nephews…my
son…and us…we are all here to bare witness to this time in American History.
Pictured above is…the grave stone of Benjamin Banneker, Dr. Charles Drew and Dr. George Washington Carver. You can CLICK on the LINK right below to find out as to who they are, their accomplishments and those of other black people in American History.
It is February…
The weather has broken for a spell…and we are getting a break from the 
cold…the ice and the snow. The sun has been shining for the past 2 days so lots of snow has been melting. But today…was absolutely beautiful. It felt like spring. And the house has not been quite as cold. I look forward to spring…I actually love all the seasons. Winter…spring…summer…and fall…
Well, God bless…
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009
CLICK LINK BELOVE to trailer to Michael Moore’s lastest film on the bank bailout.
http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-trailers/?g=f359d88a-4848-43c3-be13-bf505c57cc30>1=28101
Add a comment February 12, 2009
Hitting the ground running in 2009…
Just getting in from cracking ice. My hands are all blistered…and I am cold. The ice on the sidewalk was about an inch thick. It didn’t take me 
long to decide that if I could only make a walkway…then I would have to be satisfied. I enjoyed it though…but now my hands are aching me. And I ripped some skin on my thumb…but I got it done. Now, I don’t have to worry about someone slipping on ice in front of the house.
Yesterday while it was coming down…the freezing rain and ice…I started 
wondering if it was still true…you know that saying ‘through the rain, the sleet and the snow…”
Well, it is still true. And I told our mail man as he hiked up to street to our house looking more like an astronaut than a mail man…I told him that I was 
happy to see that that saying was still true. And he said-
“Yeah, it’s still true.”
But he didn’t seem to be too happy about it…but I was sure happy to see him. Not that I was expecting anything in particular. And as I looked up the street I saw where the ice and sleet hadn’t stopped UPS either. When 
you pay for these services you want to know that your stuff is getting delivered just like they promised it would…the next day…or whatever you paid for…no matter what.
With all the talk about email through the years…and the possiblity of it replacing the old stamp and envelop system…all I can say is this-
“I hope not.”
Can you imagine not being able to go the Post Office to send out your mail, packages, or to purchase stamps and boxes etc. ? I can’t.
I am a believer that the more options there are the better off we are. I don’t mind email…I use it everyday. And some days several times a day. 
But I sure would hate to see it replace my receiving the hard copy of actual letters, bills etc. There is something about being able to look at something in my hands…and being able to review it as often as I want without having to turn on a computer to do it…that is what I like best of all. And I like the hard copies of everything…magazines, books etc… even copies of cashed checks, but they don’t send them to you anymore.
The only thing that viewing over the internet is probably best for… well, for me…is reading news stories. I hang onto things…so I definitely don’t need to have any newspapers in my house…or magazines. I get tons of magazines though…and rarely touch any of them. But if I were to…I can flip through it at my leisure. But I can’t read magazines on-line…but newspaper articles I can. I only read certain stories and have never read the whole newspaper… not even half of it.
I get those little on-line cards sometimes in my email…and it is not the same as an actual card. I barely glance at them. I appreciate people sending them to me…but I think that they are a waste of time. They can’t beat a really beautiful or funny card that you can glance at from time to as you want to.
There are companies that no longer print their catalogs anymore…they tell you to go to their websites and see what they have to offer.
Who wants to do that?
I’m sorry…but there went a sell. Because I hate going to a website when I am interested in checking out what a company has to offer me by way of products and/or services. When I buy I’m a comparative shopper…so I go over info back and forth until my ultimate decision is made. This means a hard copy of the companies catalogs are invaluable to me.
I am all for technology and advancements in the improvement of how man lives…but some things are more a hindrance than an aid. When you look at cable television the ability to be able to view a wide variety of TV channels was a great offer.
But do you remember when television channels used to be free?
You may have had a limited selection but the channels were clear for the most part…and best of all you got them for free. And comparatively… I think a lot better… can’t stand all the reality shows.
When you consider it…whether they tell you it or not…most people still 
watch network television more than the ton of other channels that they can chose between. The problem with network TV today, however…NBC, ABC and CBS…they offer far less than what they used to. They used to make movies, run mini-series…and had a lot of other more interesting television programs than they do today.
Today television offers nothing but a bunch of reality shows and everybody trying to become millionaires. It is boring…and I just stopped watching television for the most part a long time ago. And they had the nerve to change over the system this year to force everybody to get a digital television. The whole thing is one big racket…and I am so glad that 
people didn’t fall into that trap twice but rushing out to pay for radio too.
Lets face it…who needs another bill?
And for something you used to enjoy for free?
And that is how I feel about the Postal system…I don’t mind paying for the service. And even though today email is free…I guarantee you if the US Postal Service closed their doors today…email would cost us something by tomorrow. So, I am all for keeping things just as they are right now…because even though the rates go up occasionally the increase is not enough to be a hardship on any of us.
Though I must say that the phone system has changed for the best. Now, that is something I can applaud. I remember the day when a single phone 
call could have cost me $40 or $50. Yeah, I like the fact that gone are the days of the $300 to $500 phone bills for long distance calls. I am so glad those days are long gone. The funny thing though is that I now don’t have anyone that I want to sit up all night long on the telephone with…like I did back in those days. But that’s okay. I’m happy…and I won’t complain.
But you do have to keep your eye on your cell phone bill…because the cell companies will get you if you don’t watch your bills. And I do mean…get you….and get you good. You have to closely monitor your 
cell phone bills because they will ease all kind of charges in on you. And definitely look out for charges like ‘roaming.‘ They did that to me…and I had not gone anywhere.
The other thing with your cell phone that you have to be careful of is that you don’t go over your minutes. I had a concert promotion thing going on and I had to make a ton of calls…and had a ton of calls coming in. Before I knew it…my minutes were gone. I had to rush a $100 to the cell company every day for several days just to keep my lines on.
They really got me…but I got smart quick. I quickly revised my cell phone plan. I never even come close to my total allowed minutes now. And the plan is much better than the one I had before. I have a family plan now. It cut out having multiple cell phone bills to only having one bill and at a monthly cost that averages out to about what I had been paying for just one bill alone before.
In these times you really have to look to…’how can I knock out a bill or two? ‘
- First thing…get rid of cable. There is nothing wrong with just having local stations…which you probably watch more often than you think.
- Second thing…check into getting a family plan for your cell phone service. It really could save you lots of money…and give you all more minutes monthly.
And this is something my father taught me…
- Third thing…keep your gas tank on full. When it gets down to about a half of a tank fill up your car…it will save you money. And if where you live is like here…the gas prices have already started going back up. We’re at $1.69 per gallon now…had dropped down to $1.39. Do you remember when gas $.99 per gallon?
In my forthcoming book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE…I write how due to 
technology no one knows anyone actual street address anymore. Because most people contact each other via email rather than by sending actual letters today. This is really not a good thing. (not that that is what my book is actually about…it is a fictional story about a woman… Well, yeah…it’s about THE BISHOP’S WIFE…and it’s unlike anything you have read before)
At any rate, we should all know the actual street addresses and zip codes of those people who are important in our lives.
Do you remember the day when you used to remember everybody’s phone number?
Those days are gone too.
Unless you have experienced loosing a cell phone or breaking your cell phone…you will never know just how problematic not knowing anyone’s phone number can be. With speed-dialing and all the other quick reference and access technology in the marketplace today…we are using less and less of our brain.
We have calculators, speed-dialing and I don’t know whatever else. But our brains are being put out to pasture and on an everlasting holiday.
Have you ever heard-
“If you don’t use it…you’ll loose it?”
Take a look around the number of people with Alzheimer’s is raising. And it is starting at earlier ages.
We no longer have to remember anything anymore. Everything is done for us. This really can’t be good. It may be convenient…but it is not good. If all of the sudden the electic went out…and you were unable to go up on-line who would you be able to contact?
Do you know and remember every person on your email list off the top of 
your head?
And I am not talking about knowing their actual names but their email names and addresses. I would bet you don’t…and I don’t either. Who can keep up with all those (alias’) letters and various numbers people go by over the internet. I can barely keep up with all of my own…and we won’t talk about passwords.
But if something happened to your cell phone…if it went dead or became unusable…lets say all the cell companies lost service. How many people could you call? Who would you still be able to contact?
How many of the numbers in your cell phone do you actually remember?
This actually happened to me sometime this past year when my email carrier’s server was hit with a virus. I tried all day trying to sign-on and couldn’t…and it was at the worst possible time. I had emailed myself some 
documents that I needed to print out for a class assignment and I could not retrive them. And the only place I had saved them was in an email that I had emailed to myself.
It was a good lesson in technology…it will let you down. Let me say it again…technology will let you down. Don’t put your trust solely in it. Some people say-
“Back up everything.”
But even this can let you down. If there is no electricity…nothing works. If the cell lines go down…you can hang it up. Because you will definitely be out on a limb. Or if the server goes down…yeah, it happens. Then there is this thing called ‘out dated formats.’
Have you ever heard of that?
Well, we have all experienced it. It is when you saved on a floppy disc…but they no longer make computers with that type of hardware…or a firewire in-put because everything is flash drives now.
A few years ago the whole Northeastern part of the United States was faced with this problem…of all the electrical lines going down. I remember it well…I was in New York and BOOM!
Luckily, I had just finished my editing session or I would have lost everything I had sat there for hours editing. But I remember the number of people walking the streets with their cell phones plastered to their ears trying to make calls and couldn’t. They were all lost without use of their cell phone service…and no one could figure out what was going on.
Then cars started riding by with people shouting out their windows-
“There’s a blackout! There’s a blackout…and there’s no cell service.”
I didn’t have a cell phone at the time so that didn’t affect me. But I remember hearing that none of the cell phones worked…but 
the land lines did. Whether you know it or not…there are far less land lines today than there were some 10 or 20 years ago. A lot of people have cell phones but not all of them have regular home phones any more.
Since most people walk around with cell phones…the outdoor phones that used to be on every corner…have your noticed that most of them are gone? And the ones you do see… Well, most of them do not half work. And they are so filty you really do not want to pick them up…much less place them to your ear.
Cell phones, computers, email, laptops, cable etc… all of these things may be great but do you see the draw backs to them?
Now, there are cars that park themselves…cars with GPS systems designed to get you where you want to go. I was even in a car the other day that didn’t need a key.
I don’t know about you…but I don’t feel safe if I’m in a car that doesn’t use a key. I don’t trust them. And I definitely don’t want any car parking for me.
In the on-set it all looks great…I thought having a hundred different channels to chose from was great too. But soon you all learned something that we had not been anticipating…they keeping showing the same shows over and over again. So, what good is having a hundred different television channels when you keep thinking to yourself-
“There’s nothing on television?”
It doesn’t make sense.
“So, why do you continue to pay for it?”
I don’t want a car with GPS. When I get lost I want to ask somebody and hopefully they will give me the right directions.
I don’t want a cell phone that takes pictures, text messages or has a thousand different ring tones. I just want a cell phone that is audible. I 
want it so that the person can hear me clearly and I can hear them clearly. I don’t need to text anybody or take pictures with my cell phone. I just want a good phone…that is all I need. And not more charges for things on my cell phone account that make no sense to have on a cell phone…like texting somebody when you can call them.
Why do all that work of trying to type something out like your cell phone is a typewriter?
As I end this let me just say…that we are becoming too dependent on technology. We are relying upon it to store and maintain information that we used to easily extract from that thing which sits between our 2 ears…that we now barely use. And we should all get back into the practice of writing letters…not emails…or dropping a real card into a mail box addressed to a friend or love one every now and then. There really is something nice and quite special about receiving an unsuspected letter or card in your actual postal mail.
Think about it…outside of signing our signature every now and then none of us writes anything anymore. I mean physically picking up a piece of paper and then put a pen or pencil to it to write a letter, a poem or something. We do everything on our computers or in our calculators, cell phones…and whatever else we might have.
Well, one of my sisters has her train ticket to catch Amtrak into DC on the 20th. I’m thinking about taking 2 of my younger nieces and a nephew
and that we might drive down the night before and sleep in the car somewhere nearby. I mean I was at the Million Woman March in Philly…I was in New York for 9/11…and I was at the 25th Anniversary March on Washington.
How could I not be in DC for Obama taking his oath as President of the United States of America?
I know that I can watch it on TV…but when you get right down to it…it is not the same as saying-
“I was there.”
God bless…and thanks for reading this blog…and please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009
Add a comment January 9, 2009
Self-Publishing woes…
Well, it is about 4 o’clock and I was suppose to go to the bank today. Guess I won’t have much money for the long weekend. I’m trying not to use my bank card too much…because frankly I can never trust my balance when I do. I did a transaction for a couple of thousand with my card…but later there was a disbute between me and the company. At the end when I just couldn’t take it any more…and yes, I’m talking Xulon Printing…after one obstacle after another…I finally said enough is enoug and-
“Give me all my money back.”
I think that they were kind of tired of me anyway…but I never complained 
without good reason. I do not like any company who feels they have you over a wheel barrel just because they have already gotten paid. Perhaps you have experienced a simular situation. But when you have paid $2000 plus dollars…even tolerance for the sake of just getting it done soon will fall by the wayside if the company is flagrant in their dealings. And that is just how Xulon is…flagrant in their dealings.
Believe when I tell you-
“They only want your money.”
“It’s all a game.”
What else do you want to hear…because I could tell you a lot more.
So, I recently went over the internet to check my bank account balance after giving them the axe last Friday…and yes…they have yet to reimburse me any part of my $2000 plus. But from the on-set I did realize that they would want to keep as much of my money as they could on their side of the table.
In fact, Xulon is only going to reimburse my bank account some $300…but I knew from early in the game…and had realized that I was probably going to have to go down to Florida and sue them…and that is not so bad since they are located near Orlando. But based upon the facts…I am entitled to every dime of my money back…as Xulon failed to fairly meet any part of our contract. And the kicker in the whole thing was as they not only wanted to rob me…but wanted me to say it was okay to rob me by having me sign off on our contract. They wanted to rewrite our contract by getting me to sign off on an email that they had sent me.
To have signed off on that email would have meant…had I signed…that I would have been writing away any chance of every later taking legal action 
against them.
I really was not born yesterday…but I think Xulon thought so.
If I had signed off on that email…they could have also printed up my book any way they pleased and just thrown it at me. Because in essence really that was what they were trying to get me to sign off against.
Since Xulon had failed to provide me with an original cover…as the cover they sent me to approve was actual a cover they had used for a prior author’s book…yet they charged that design against my funds. I had also paid for rush service which was to take about 45 days…what a rip-off that was. That was way back in March and my book to this date had not even gotten into the print room…due to one hang up after another on Xulon’s part.
Then they have this author’s site where you supposedly retrive your proofs and inter-office emails. My access code…provided to me by Xulon never worked. When I informed them that it did not…I was told they had thousands of other authors and none of them had any problems with their’s. So, I could not use that service…for which they charged against my money…I am sure. After going over the Galley twice…upon which the last time I thought this time it was really going to go to print finally…but this is when they held up the printing…yet again…and told me that if I didn’t sign off on that email that they had sent me they would not print my book until I did.
So, I sent Xulon an email concerning several issues…(1) since Xulon did not want to reimburse me my rush fee money ($299)…a service they never provided me…I told them I wanted 30 books instead of the contracted 10 in exchange for my money. Now, that is fair…as the charge to authors for their books printed by Xulon is $5…at $5 a piece I come nowhere near my $299. But I felt I was entitled to something for my money…and I was not just going to let them rob me and me not try to get something out of the deal.
I also said I wanted my cover printed on quality glossy cover stock…really is that too much to ask for? Besides, Xulon claimed that they did that anyways.
So, then why did they want me to sign off on the printing of my book…if they already provided all of that?
Because I told them that if the printing of my book didn’t meet with the quality and expectations I had paid for…then I would not be satisified.
And why should I?
I had afer all paid them more than $2000 to do the job…for which they had breached every term and condition concerning the services that they claimed to provide. Such things like…a professionaly designed original book cover. Xulon even goes as far as asking you for your suggestions for the cover…of which they follow nothing. I said put the title in thick bold fonts…not. I said no people in the design…not. I said something classy and ritzy…very not.
So…I said it in my very first blog…and I am going to say it again. You will never know the type of company you are dealing with until you actually go into business with them. Some people may fair well with a company…but that may not be your experience. We weary of the sharks.
However, look out for my book, “THE BISHOP’S WIFE”…once I get it published…and it will be published. I know you will enjoy it. It is my second piece of fictional work…about woman in the mid-fifties who can’t put out of her mind a pass love though she marries a Bishop who is not what or who she expected him to be.
Oh, forgot to tell ya’ that Small Claims in Florida allows you to sue for up to $5000…that gives me plenty of money to fly down and soak up some sun too as I visit with relatives. But I will be going down…and soon to get my money.
Check the comments below…someone commented that she had a similar experience with Xulon. Where was anyone writing stuff like this so I could find it when I was trying make a decision on who to get self-published with. It certainly would have been helpful.
Currently, AUTHORHOUSE has my contract to publish my book. I must say…I like them already. They even create you a website as part of you deal for no additional money. They have a legitmate contract…something that I never got from Xulon. They have a payment plan…and their rates are nowhere’s near Xulon or some of the others depending upon what package you buy. And if you use them…well, they have a referral plan as well. I know…I know…shameless of me but I want every $100 I can get…I can help to finish paying off my publishing fee since Xulon ripped me for all of my money. So, send me a comment if you decide to go with AUTHORHOUSE…so I can collect my referral fee. And I am not kidding.
Had something else I wanted to say but it has fleed from me now.
The other reason I am trying not to use my bank card too much…is because of the current financial situation. I have always been told –
“A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bushes.”
I know what I have and I intend to hold onto my money…what little I have after my $2000 Xulon investment…until I’m sure which way this thing is going. With these banks threatening to cumble you really can’t be too sure about anything. But since the gas prices are down…keep your tank filled. Because who knows what tomorrow will bring.
Enjoy your weekend.
God bless… ‘pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com
God bless…and thanks for reading ©2008
3 comments October 10, 2008
Bush failed economics… and 9/11
After 8 years of essentially nothing but a bunch of failed economic schemes on the part of the Bush Team where we have seen one large 
company after another go under, Enron, WorldCom, AIG, Bear Sterns…now Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac and many large banks are headed for the drain. Somebody needs to call in the plumber…and I guess that is what that $700 billion bailout is all about.
But what could have led George Bush to possibly believe that anybody in their right mind was going to underwrite for him a blank check giving him what would have amounted to a have virtually amounted to a $700 billion free roller coaster ride with taxpayers money with no oversights written into it…no promise of ever getting back…and was earmark directly to Wall Street.
Paulson had real cause to get down on his knees in the Senate and beg Nancy Pelosi to bless him with what evidently his boss, George Bush, had sent him to Capitol Hill to do…beg for it. And as he dropped to his knees he was probably snickering to himself thinking about the big bonus he was going to get for brokering the deal. And everybody…including large number of Republicans (well, it is an election year even for them…and many of them would like to return to Capitol Hill after November too)…so, they hemmed and haa-ed until finally all slowly broke down and gave him a yes.
Henry Paulson declaring that we were in a dire straits and if we didn’t act quick the 
walls would come tumbling down…sounded much like what Bush spewed out while rushing Capitol Hill into signing in that thing that…thereby ingratiated George Bush with the first blank check…called the Patriot Act. And there was nothing Patriotic about it…it just gave Bush and all his little men much to much power, infringed upon our rights of privacy, allowed them to essentially set up a dictatorship right here in America. And they had wrote it in a way that no one could…either say anything…or pose them any opposition. They in effect have had total and absolute free reign.
At that time the powers that be on Capitol Hill…blindly turned everything over to a bunch of crooks worst than Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the George Bush Administration gang. The Senate gave them everything but the kitchen sink without any restraints, oversights or means of appeal. George and his people got to do whatever 
they wanted to…and they did. That is exactly how he happened to order a preempted strike against Iraq…which unarguably has been one of the biggest financial mistakes in Presidential history…and World political suicides since Woodrow Wilson launched the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Bush and his crew put us into a war without end that has been draining this country of manpower, lives and absolutely huge unheard of amounts of money per day.
Since George Bush stole his way into the White House in 2000 this country has suffered one calamity after another. Today America is in its worst financial condition since the Great Depression with both the Euro and the Chinese yen outperforming the American dollar. Eight years of Bush Economics has virtually put this country in receivership to both China and Europe.
Since George Bush’s cooked the books on weapons of mass destruction throwing us into ‘yes’ a very un-necessary war inflation has ran wild in this country in ways we would and could have never imagined in the years prior to Bush taking over the country after Bill Clinton.
Who would have thought we would have ever seen nearly $5/gallon of gasoline at the pumps in this country?
When the gas went up…the food costs went up…clothes…medical expenses…everything went up. And they are not going to come down…even if the cost of gas temporarily has . The cost of gas as we once knew it is gone. It will never be anywhere near where it used to be…$1.99 to $2.50/gallon ever again in this country…thanks to George Bush.
Everybody around the world, at the time….realized that when Bush had declared he was going to strike Iraq that the decision was for one primary reason…that decision was for the oil. He sent troops in to plunder and destroy the infrastructure of that country…that could have never been about just a single man and his 2 sons. The orders were too broad, too vast and far to destructive to have ever have been just about Saddam Hussein.
Halliburton was sent in….and a bunch of Halliburton sub-companies…all companies with special ties to Bush and his Administration were the only companies given contracts to enter Iraq to supposedly rebuild that country at a cost of billions of dollars to America’s taxpayers. While Halliburton and others sent back to the U.S. Pentagon a bunch of bogus invoices and padded bills…filled with lies stealing from everyday people like you and me millions upon millions of dollars…for which they suffered no penalty and/or penalties for and are still on the Pentagon payroll.
Bush stole his way into the highest seat in this country…and immediately ate away the Bill Clinton surplus plunging America in a deficit his very first year in office.
Once he stole his way into the Oval Office, America came under attack for only the second time in her history…but this time it wasn’t some small distant South Pacific island that was hit. A strategically planned and deployed attack on America took place on September 11, 2001… the likes this country or no country has ever seen. It was a day I will never forget along with millions of other Americans and millions around the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/business/29bailout.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/business/29markets.html?hp
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fi-bailout29-2008sep29,0,855202.story
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/20/bush-asking-for-700-billi_n_127926.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/28/congress-white-house-reac_n_129964.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-080928bailout-deal-reached,0,2436591.story
9/11….2001
At the time I lived just on the other side of both the Brooklyn and the Manhattan Bridges, in downtown Brooklyn.
I remember awaking to one 
ambulance and siren after another…non-stopping all day.
I remember looking out my bedroom window and watching the Twin Towers engulfed by heavy black smoke that soon became white/grayish billows of smoke as they went down.
I remember the congestion of that day of all the roadways being block, train service being suspended, people having to find their way out of darken train tunnels all over New York City. No cabs or buses allowed through the police barricades posted all through the city in every borough…nobody could drive anywhere.
I remember looking out the window and watching as people lined the streets passing out bottles of water to those laden with ashes from their heads down who were walking the streets in disbelief trying to find their way home from Wall Street.
I remember sitting near the radio listening and waiting most of the day…and all of the night to the reports…the questions… and people searching for answers.
I remember hearing that the Pentagon had just got hit…and then how a plane went down in Pennsylvania. And everyone was trying to figure out how 
many more planes were out there…and wondering what would be the next target…and where?
I remember getting dress and walking into the Brooklyn Mall area with droves of people rushing pass me…stopping to stare into the window of an electronic store to watch the TV monitors along with many others who gatheed around…just watching the towers getting hit time and time again. And hear in disbelief “Just like in the movies.”
I remember trying to find my way to one of the medical emergency centers set up all over New York for victims so that I could volunteer.
I remember going to the medical center they opened up in downtown Brooklyn near where I lived…and nearing the location seeing the staff standing outside their door turning droves of people away who had all come to volunteer just like me. But they had no victims…there was no one to help. Because they had either gotten out…or they were gone…as if they had never been.
I remember crying and wondering about friends who worked in those buildings…if they had survived?
I remember my utter and complete feeling of lost and being lost during that whole day.
I remember how everything had been turned upside down…and I was sitting in the midst of it less than a mile from Wall Street and the World Trade Center.
I remember the days that followed…how there was not a sound down in the subways.
I remember how no one spoke…not one word…not even a whisper. There was no laughter or mirth on the trains, or buses or anywhere in New York. Every face was like stone…expressionless, empty, devastated and shocked beyond all words.
New York was in shock for months…and New Yorkers rallied behind each 
other as never before during that day, and days to come. Every fraction and group was dissolved…everything that had separated them was gone…they were all now only New Yorkers and they had been attacked. And nothing was as unusual. But nothing would ever been the same ever again…the towers were gone.
The towers lit your nights…gave you direction if you got lost. They stood beautifully…long tall and straight as could be. From Jersey to Far Rockaway…from Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manhattan and the Bronx…the towers stood as beacon on a hill lighting the way home…and now she was gone. And nothing would ever be the same.
Election is so important.
Please be sure to share this blog site with your friends.
…pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com
God bless…and thanks for reading ©2008
1 comment September 29, 2008
McCain… Republican Convention… Lies
Reform…Ch
ange …McCain????
The real agents of change…McCain…or Obama?
It was interesting hearing the Republicans talk about change during their convention as though they were the first to conceptualized that idea of change…or that America was in need of a change.
And man do we need a change.
And that change is by way…of removing the Republicans out of office…getting their hands off of regulating the business of the United States of America. Under Bush this country has hit rock 
bottom. It has gone to places where it hadn’t been since the stock market crash of the 1930’s bringing about the Great American Depression, which lasted into 1940’s.
How could one group of people do so much damage?
From a huge surplus left by Bill Clinton to a massive deficeit that continues growing moment by moment as another bullet is shot or a war tank is moved through the dessert sands of Iraq.
Under Bush has come war, attacks on American soil, home foreclosures, U.S. takeovers of huge companies with the hope of trying to stablize a highly flautering economy. Companies like Freddy Mac and Fanny Mae…who ever thought anything would happen to her…or them?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/business/21cong.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/20/AR2008092000883.html?hpid=topnews
And they say that Bush was an Economics Major.
Well, that is one degree that Yale should go back and reclaim quick before everybody starts wondering just what is Yale teaching its Economic Majors?
It is easy to preach change…but without it being actually in your heart…or having the heart to actually implement it….change just becomes a catch phrase…a means of merely trying to get elected without the hope of making any change. And that is exactly what ‘change’ means to the Republicans. It is a catch phrase…a practical joke that everytime they said it…they almost choke trying not to laugh.
Those Republicans…they have no real desire to change anything. And why would they want to?
From what I heard at the Republican Convention….they’re all happy with the way things are. And why not…they have reaped the benefits from this mess that the Bush Administration has sunken us into.
Who ever heard of paying $4.00/per gallon for gas in America before George Bush got into office?
Even under Bush senior…this country still was under 90 cents per gallon for gasoline.
But whe
n you go into office and the first thing you do is increase your own salary that really should speak volumes to everybody in the country. Bill Clinton as President of the United States only received $200,000 a year…but George Bush felt that wasn’t enough. So, the President’s salary went up to $400,000 a year. That meant that within the first 4 years of Bush’s term he was paid all of what Bill Clinton got for the whole of 8 years Bill was in office. And Bill Clinton never took any 4 week vacations at any time while he was in the office of President of this country…a thing George Bush really loves to do (that’s that party boy attitude he’s had all his life)…and he started taking them shortly after he stole his way into the Oval Office.
Honestly, when you look at the American Economy…Bush has really been on vacation for his entire 8 years that he has been in the White House. Well, maybe if he had…then maybe we wouldn’t be here where we are right now.
What a mess!
So, yes…drinking champagne and watching their stocks vested in fuel, food goods etc. go soaring through the roof those Republicans loved that.
Why shouldn’t they?
They’re making money. That’s why they are against better health packages for employees, more taxes for the richer Americans, help to the poor, disabled, sick and disenfranchised
When you get right down to it….those…those…those REPUBLICANS are a selfish bunch!
They could care less about anybody but themselves.
So, for the most part they enjoy their standing in America…they are vested. Vested in things remaining just as they are.
When you looked out upon the people who filled the coliseum where the Republican National Convention took place…it looked more like a meeting of the Wall Street Klan. They for the most part looked like a bunch of stuff shirt business people (who all by the way looked sad to be at their own convention). The Republican Convention certainly didn’t seem to have a cross section of people from all sectors of America as were the people that attended the Democratic National Convention. And besides that…the Republican Convention didn’t have one person who was just an ordinary Joe or Jane who came up to tell their story…like the Democratic Convention did. And all of those stories were quite moving and compelling…as to what the Republicans have done to the American Economy and how people…everyday people are truly suffering.
Not only did there seem to be a deep difference between the 2 types of crowds attending the various Political Conventions…but also…the Republican National Convention was geared towards personality and had nothing to do with what the maverick McCain would do differently for America. In fact, the whole Republican Convention was one big war hero story. It would have been great for Memorial Day or something…but it didn’t speak to what McCain plans to do for America.
The Republicans attacked Obama…his eloquence and ability to rally the crowds. But they 
failed to offer up any meat on a Republican agenda. They talked ‘change’…and spoke about ‘reform’…but never said ‘how’…or what differently they were going to do. Because the reality is…it is all talk as it has always been when it comes to the Republicans.
The Republican make promises…but only continue to enrich the rich and could care less about those who are struggling to keep above the water…as the Republicans steadily watch their bank accounts grow having invested in energy, oil and whatever else that is bleeding us into nothingness…we who don’t have their deep pockets…and have to work hard at trying to make every dollar stretch as far as we can get it.
McCain may well have been a hero…but having served in the military and making the decision to stay with his troops is not something that many others also did not decide to do when they had the option of doing something else. I have watched stories of such people all the time on PBS. And no one has said of them-
“This qualifies you to become the next President of the United States.”
If so, then we would see more military people running for political office along with mostly lawyers and other professional types who choose to become Senators, Governors, Mayors etc… But no, you don’t see them…those just plain military people…and if they were to stand up and say-
“I can do a better job than of those guys.”
Somebody would tell them to sit down….and that they just did not have the experience or whatever else it takes to be in politics.
So, therefore, military service is no prerequisite to be President of the United States…nor can it be a substitute for qualifications or experience. When your military record is all that can stand on or all that can be said about you…one really has to wonder about John McCain. And believe me that Republican Convention was all about John McCain’s military record. Not once did I hear about some bill or anything else he managed to push through.
I say, give me a person who knows what it is to serve people though he may have not have been Governor or a corporation executive…but a honest caring person who has made it his life work to serve the everyday woman and man. And that is the history of Barack Obama.
“Drill, baby…drill.”
Sounds like the Republicans don’t mind destroying what little lands this country has set aside in order to protect certain eco-systems and various species of wildlife, foliage etc. As long as they can make money the Republicans could care less about anything else.
Is this not the very reason that the investigators laid claim to about Hurrican Katrina?
Did they not say that that if the wet lands had not been removed that perhaps New Orleans might have had the flooding it suffered?
It was the eco-system that had been destoryed in order to increase the city limits…and in the end nature dealt New Orleans a death defying blow by the name of Katrina.
But destorying the eco-systems mean nothing to the Republicans. Because they reap all the benefits and none of the fall-out from such decisions.
Money is the only thing most Republicans put first.
That sign being waved by many at the Republicans at their National Convention which said ‘Prosperity’ looked so much like a Hersey’s Chocolate wrapping…to me that I started craving a Hersey’s bar for the remainder of the night. And finally got one just this week.
Prosperity…not change is what the Republicans want. Its their same old game…they’re just trying to repackage it and give it a new name. And during their own convention those Republicans were bold enough to display large signs reading just that…”Prosperity.”
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761584403/great_depression_in_the_united_states.html
Remember to get registered if you are not…the clock is ticking. And be sure if you are registered to go down to the Voter Registration Office in your city or town and double check on your registration…just to make sure you won’t run into any problems on election day. You vote counts.
Well, God bless…and enjoy the rest of your day. And thanks for reading…and please remember to share this blog address with your friends….‘…pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com
God bless…and thanks for reading ©2008
Add a comment September 20, 2008
My day out… my Bible… and Chinese
Today while out and about, I noticed the gas prices at a couple of places. It was at 
$3.99…not much difference from $4.08.
But psychologically speaking.
It sure looks a lot better.
A couple of days ago I was out at the track. Sometimes I just like to pull out there and sit in the car and read my Bible.
On this particular day, I ran into an old family and church friend with whom we had grown up 
with. He shared with me a book he was reading.
This book had to be about 2 1/2 inches in thickness. It was a book on the Masons.
We have all heard of the Masons…but I never knew much about them as most of what they do is secret and kept among themselves.
But what was interesting about this book were the hand signals that were displayed in it. The hand signals used by the Masons symbolizes some type of secret code…which of course this book explained along with everything else about the Masons. But I was not about to read all that stuff.
But those hand signals are the exact hand signals used by the rappers. You’ve seen them in the music videos and at the music award shows flashing all kinds of hand signals.
Well, those hand signals come directly from the Masons. Along with some other things called the hidden hand and the claw…which are all shown in this book which is full of pictures showing everybody and their brother using and flashing these various hand signs from generals to Presidents past and present.
But besides those hand signals, I couldn’t help but notice how much this person whom I had known for many years was taken with that book. So much so that as I looked at that book and how thick it was…I couldn’t help but think that if it had been the Bible he probably wouldn’t have even opened it. And here he was all goo-goo gah-gah over this book about the Masons as if it were some kind of wonderment.
Not to mention as he continued on and on…he eventually got around to mentioning how the Bible is a piece of manipulated junk. Where of course we now had to go into a detailed conversation because I just could not allow that to go unchallenged.
But what made me feel bad for him was…that you cannot read all kinds of doctorine because it will confuse you. And he was terribly confused…and I could clearly see it and definitely hear it.
There is no doctrine which has not pulled bits and pieces from the Bible…that in of itself should speak volumes for the merit of the Bible. That everyone wants to draw from it…does ring a high degree of significance on its behalf.
And the fact that they do pull from the Bible…and create all kinds of religions to fit whatever they want to do, practice and/or preach and teach…is indeed a fact. From the Mormons to Catholicism, the Church of Scienctology, Islam, all those Eastern Religions etc…etc…all have taken wing from some section, practice or statement and/or statements found in the Bible.
As I listened to him, this person who had grown up in the same church I had, I just felt bad for him…as he talked to me getting excited as he told me how he spent $20 for some other book on something else. He was getting all excited as though these books were leading him to some new found form of enlightment that gave him some strange form of euphoric ecstasy.
I don’t read many books…but I do spend time every day with one very special book which means an awful lot to me. I search it out for understanding, wisdom, peace, guidance, even correction etc…etc…and it does that much and more for me.
Happy reading…and be sure to look out for my book, “THE BISHOP’S WIFE.”
Remember I will tell you when and where you can purchase it just as soon as I straighten out my problems with the publisher. I recently informed them that it would cost them more money than it would cost me if I had to take them to court. I just don’t want to have to fly all the way to Florida to do it…but I’ll go if I have to. And in Florida…in small claims you can sue for up to $5000…now that is a real incentive for all the aggravation that Xulon has caused me.
But I would really rather work it out…and I have them in the palm of my hand…it is not the other way around. And if you would like to read that story you can check out my very first blog…under the section entitled “Self-Publishing.” The story on how Xulon Publishing was planning on taking me for a ride…all the way to the bank.
I’m finding myself having to take 3 to 4 showers per day with all this heat. Can’t stand to get over-heated and sweaty. But just imagine if we couldn’t shower as we would like to.
People around the world are faced with exactly that…and even some right here in the United States. People in the mountains of West Virginia have contaminated water…all of it…even their drinking water. I saw once on PBS where somewhere in those mountains the water faucets in some mountain towns poured out mud. That is right…mud…and they ran the faucet to prove it. Through the kitchen sink faucet and bathroom faucets…through all their plumbing.
I couldn’t imagine living that way…or being forced to. And even though bottled water seems pretty cheap…imagine trying to buy it for your everyday useages. You won’t think it so cheap then…I am sure. Imagine trying to buy enough water so you and your family could bathe with it…much less drink it, wash clothes and dishes with it…etc…
There is something about not having something which makes you desire it. And you have a tendency to desire it all the more when it is not readily available to you.
If we didn’t have fresh water…we would be desiring a cool drink of water. And would be willing to pay any price to get it. (kind of sounds like our current gas prices)
There are people who for one reason or another whose water or electric and/or gas may be shut off…meaning that if they have bath water it is ice cold. And if they don’t have water, they can’t bathe or flush the toilet or have drinking water.
We are blessed…but being blessed does not mean that we should not consider other people. Consider 
them…and lets seek to make this a better place for all people.
I respect and love you. Lets consider this planet and all that we are doing to ruin it. Some day someone will look back and say-
“How come they didn’t do something?”
It’s a good time to think about trying to preserve this planet for those who will come after us…and for those suffering right now because of what we have already done.
Thank you for reading. ….God bless…and have a beautiful day.
These hot flashes are really getting the best of me.
I used to hear women talk about them…but never paid much attention to what they were saying. But I understand now.
They make all of this heat all the worst. And ooooh….my nights.
My Chinese teacher told me that Chinese women do not get hot flashes…it has to with something they either eat or take…which I guess amounts to about the same thing.
Ni hao ma?
Yes, I do take Chinese…or rather took it for a few semesters.
And I just said ‘hello and how are you?’ Pronounced “knee how ma?”
Now, that was easy…wasn’t it? ©2008
Add a comment July 23, 2008
What a mess… economy/recession
Today’s tempertures must have been somewhere in the 100’s. I don’t think those Accu-Weather people know anything because they claim it only got up into the mid-70’s. But this 100 degrees wasn’t Arizona weather either.
No, it was hot, humid…very very very…very humid…and sweaty.
It was one of those days where you know you have a lot to do…but do nothing. Because it is too too too hot.
Just got me a large cool glass of fresh water…and I will probably sip from that for the rest of the night.
The all mighty U.S. dollar is taking a real hit. And based upon one report that I have read it
is primarily due to…once again…Bush and his Administion not doing what it was suppose to…when they saw where things were headed…after having made several blunders to get us here in the first place.
But lets face it…when you are a billionaire…daddy’s rich…mama’s rich…you grew up rich…and currently live off the tax-payers of this country…do you really care?
That was the problem with Bush Senior…he was out of touch too. But sonny boy…he’s more than out of touch. He doesn’t even believe he has plunged us into a recession. Or prehaps we should say it this way…he doesn’t want to confess to having plunged us into a recession.
So, he keeps calling it something else…like a ‘little slow down.’
A little slow down???
After 8 years of George Bush economics…and I would really like to see those Yale grade
s of his in economics…this country is seriously ailing.
We had suffered more lossess, cuts, job diminishings…highest gas prices ever…Wall Street crashes, mortgage foreclosures, waste in tax dollars…a war that nobody but George Bush and his friends wanted…tremendous lossess in lives, numerous injuries, mental problems etc. of vets involved in that war not to mention the billion dollars a day cost of that war…and raging hospital costs, medicine costs, utility costs…loss wages and benefits…and nobody had to tell us because we already knew it…our dollar just doesn’t buy as much as it used to.
The question is…do we really have to wait until November to get George Bush out of the 
White House?
This man has sent this country to the dogs.
How in the world could the American public, the Senate and the U.S. Congress allow this to happen?
Did we all have our heads just buried in the sand?
This country was supposedly set-up with checks and balances to keep this sort of thing from ever happening.
What happened to the checks and balances?
Who turned out the lights?
Now that to some degree the breath of the mess is coming to light…one thing is quite certain…
Whoever walks into the White House after George W. Bush is not going to be in for a picnic. 
And he and his team won’t have it easy. They have a real mess to try to clean up…and it is not going to be easy…and it will take some time to undo…if indeed they can. And they will certainly have to think out of the box…because the depth of Bush’s mis-uses and exploitation of this country and the seat in which he held will take some real and new techniques to undo some great and tragic problems not only here in this country but aboard as well.
Clearly, there is a reason why George Bush has received the lowest Presidential ratings of any U.S. President…of all times.
Well, enjoy your day tomorrow… and God bless….
If you want to read more on the story about the dwindling dollar click on the link below. ©2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080718/ap_on_bi_co_ne/all_business
Add a comment July 20, 2008
Lions, tigers and bears…oh, my.
Just finished doing my laundry…and no we haven’t left yet. Running a little behind but we will get out of here some time tonight…dash into Jersey and pick up my sister-in-law…then on to Detroit.
Seems like a lot of people have plans to hit the road this holiday. The gas prices are not holding us down. Though when running around town, I now think about what and what I can hit along the way to a destination. Like if I’m going to the grocery store, maybe I might need something from Walmart which is also going that way. Or from CVS…or maybe something from McDonals…all on the sam
e route. I call it bundling…and in terms of watching the gas gage…it works for me.
You can burn up gas quick running around town aimlessly. And when a full tank can run you a $100 if you have a truck…you really don’t want to do that. Better start planing your errands.
So, since I’m still here just thought i would take this time to say something. Like how about those Williams sisters?
THE WILLIAMS SISTERS…
I just finished watching some footage on them making it into the semi-finals at Wimbledon. During Serena’s match she hit…get this 8 ace’s. And yesterday Venus hit the fastest ball ever served by a woman.
The expectations are high that there may be another Williams sisters showdown in the finals this year at Wimbledon, which of course, Venus won last year for the 4th time while being the lowest ranked woman to win Wimbledon, at a ranking of 9th highest Woman Tennis Player in the World at the time.
It is good to see their growth and development, and just how close knit the Williams’ are as family. Their parents have done a very good job at keeping the wolves out and at keeping them level headed, bright, humble and philantrophis’. There was a time when many media people felt that their father was crazy when he refused to allow anyone to coach his daughters but him…and he really knew nothing about tennis. But he had a belief. He believed that his girls could become tennis champions.
Perhaps he knew far more than any of us ever gave him credit for. He was the one after all who started throwing tennis balls at them as tiny little girls when he saw how much could be earn playing a simple game with a racket. He believed and they made it happened.
The same could also be said about Tiger Woods and his dad. Both fathers seemed to have instilled in their children that they could do anything…and to never stop striving and achieving.
It is wonderful to see what families can accomplish when they work together.
There is nothing like family.
And Venus and Serena are also playing doubles at Wimbledon, as they usually do whenever one or bother of them aren’t suffering with injuries. Now, wouldn’t that be something…if Venus and Serena come out as the doubles champions and end up in the finals playing against each other too?
This could be the year Venus and Serena take Wimbledon by storm…well, I think they have already done that more than a few times…but never a double whammie. Sisters emerging as the Doubles Champions at Wimbledon, and the final’s winner and play each other for that crowning victory. WOw…
Some FACTS on the Williams sisters…
1. Venus has a degree in Fashion Design having graduated the Art Institute of 
Fort Lauderdale, Fl., 2007
2. Serena is an 8 time grand-slam champion
3. They are currently ranked as the number 6th and 7th Top Women Tennis Players in the World
4. In career prize money, Venus has won nearly $19 million dollars while Serena has inched beyond the $20 million mark
5. Together they have been in 28 Grand Slam Championships
6. Venus has won Wimbledon 5 times
7. Venus and Serena won gold at the Bijing Olympics 2008 as the Women’s Doubles Champions
They are just two lean mean sports machines. WOw….
And they travel no where on tournament where neither their mother, or father, or both of their parents are not in the grandstand supporting their very talented and regal girls.
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.html
ps…I’ve got to clean the bathroom and mob the floors before I get out of here. So, I better get started. I don’t want to come back to a dirty house.
And don’t forget…if you get out on the road…please drive with care.
Well, God bless… ©2008
Add a comment July 2, 2008
Bsmith101's Weblog 
