DONALD… DONALD….

I got sick of him long ago.   So, this blog won’t be very long don’t worry.

Tonight is the first Presidential Debate and everyone is talking about ‘which Donald Trump do you think will show up?’

Oh, I have no doubt which Donald Trump will show up… because I know it will be the Donald Trump that needs to show up.  Plain and simple.

Either the man is a total idiot … or a very masterful genius.   And I am beginning to believe he is both.  But I think it has come about by happenstance.  Or maybe I’m just listening to those talking heads too much on television to be able to tell the difference.  Because they all seem to be confused too by this whole political mess we have this presidential election period.

Lets face it, at his very best we have all come to realize that the man is definitely not smart.  He’s not even a good business man.   His history as a businessman speaks volumes to that point… in that every … and I do mean ‘every company the man, himself, has started has failed.’

The only business which has somehow managed to survive the raging waters of a fidgety Donald Trump, who apparently likes leaping into business trends he knows nothing about… the first sign of someone who knows nothing about business.   Because when you leap into venues … business or otherwise that you have no real working knowledge of … they will inevitably fail.

This is a well known and highly proven fact… which has been the undermining of many goodhearted and people believing they could ‘make it too’… because some new money making business trend was happening in the marketplace.   But the thing they had failed to factor in was… they had no expertise or real working knowledge in what it would take in terms of capital, outside already pre-established relationships with other sub-contractors, suppliers, material manufacturers, overhead expenditures etc. that it would take to make it.   And maybe like the restaurant business… that it would a few years to first establish their business and clientele before their began to make any real money or even show any level of a profit.

The only business that Donald Trump has managed to not sink is his father’s real estate business.   There must be some type of major reason for that… like some type of clause or ryder on dear ole dad’s will that put a board or some other force over ‘the Donald’ from having run that company into the ground too.

I thought that the President had to be men… or women… above reproach.   People who exhibited some level of having at lease a grain of honor…  a speckle of common sense… or some moral character above the average man or woman… people of GREAT dignity…  someone who possessed a HUGE AMOUNT of integrity.

How did this election fall so short?

Sure we may not all be happy about either or… but Hillary sure does beat Donald Trump any day… any year… any month… and any election.

Donald is so crazy… I am not even sure that the man is truly American himself.   Seriously.

He is so in love with Putin and dictatorships… and lets face it all
of his wives have not truly been American… including this last 1… who on top of it all … she can barely speak English.   A strip-tee artist???

She is the classical example of someone who has sold her soul to the devil.   And this would be come the First Lady of the United States?

And Donald Trump claims that America is disrespected now under Obama???

He would be the laughing stock of the world… and First Lady of every other country would find it hard just trying to hide all their smiles… behind such whoredom.    And if Donald Trump is marrying high… where is the ‘new low’ in America today?
Because this man is the pits.

I just hope all those people that he has robbed and all the sub-contractors that he dupped out of their contracts… got the job done and/or the materials … but never paid…  I truly hope that somehow
they all get their day in court … and see this man in jail where he belongs… and definitely not in the White House … not even on a visit.
What a shock that would be to the Donald… to be dragged off in the middle of the night by Russian guards laughing at his stupidity….

Oh, well…  So much for this because truthfully speaking the man has received too much media attention.   If anyone needed a total blackout it would be the Donald.   And that is all I am going to say on him… except how foolish and ignorant the sellout black folk who have rallied around him are.  And I mean a bunch of ignoramus if ever there any.

If it were left up to them we would all be back on master’s plantation… unable to read… picking cotton… and being sold upon auction blocks… just as they are currently being bought.  They have no clue that it takes a bunch of dummies to want to run behind a dummy, like Donald Trump… and proclaim him to be the god and savior of black folk… whom history has

proven he hates and thinks very lowly ofNot only are they confused… and lack understanding… who told them that they were smarter than you and me.  When we obviously can see way pass all the games that Donald Trump thinks he can play on folk.

I just thank God that all of us are not stupid… and just won’t fall for everyone and everything… for real.

One final note on Trump… how can anyone ever hope to ‘make America great’ …who never even believed in the trademark …‘made in America?’

Well, UPDATE:   TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2017…  Well, the guy won.   And he is going stark raving mad.  It has become quite clear to many that this man may truly not be dealing with a full stack of cards… and cards they would truly be.

What we thought was funny… now does not appear so.   In 8 days he has managed to cause so much havoc that there is lots of talk about the 25th Amendment an act which allows the president of the United States to be removed for disabilities… and/or impeachment.

There has been demonstration after demonstration against him.   And for a man who likes numbers… and is quick to say how he got the longest and loudest applause ‘ever’… it has got to be eating him up.

Well, God bless… I’m out.  Thanks for reading my blogs.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” http://www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2016

Add a comment September 26, 2016

DENSEL… DIVORCE OR NO DIVORCE….

I was standing in the line at the check-out cash register when I happened to spot the magazine that read, “150 Million Dollar Divorce.”  And with that notation on the cover of that magazine was a picture of Densel and his wife, Paulette,  of some near 30  years.

Needless, to say I was a bit shocked, because as far as I knew they adored one another.  And lets face it, based upon all that Densel has said about his family and wife… there is no way that anyone would believe that THAT marriage was not rock solid.

Well, is it or isn’t it?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/denzel-washington-divorce_n_3586774.html

The answer is… I don’t know.  But then is it really for me to know.

Perhaps I should not say this but once while taking some sessions with Spike at Long Island University, about the time that Spike was making Malcolm X.  In one of the sessions a young woman, who had worked closely with the production people.  A fairly attractive, I guess… white woman began talking about Densel in such a way that I could tell she had great disdain for him. 

She claimed he had gotten fresh with her.  Maybe more than a bit flirtatious.  And she apparently did not like it.

Now, I’m not saying this is true.  But it came back to mind when I was reading the front cover of that magazine.

When I initially looked this story up over to internet to see if it were true, I could find nothing on it.  Now, it seems that Densel is out and about saying ‘there will be no divorce.’  He is saying that there is no break-up inspite of what seems to not be 1 rumor …but rumors.

Densel Washington today is a top of his game a very high grossing actor… a super big action movie hero and heart throb.  His world today is a very far cry since his days on the small screen,  as a doctor at St. Elsewhere… or something or other like that, a hospital series that was on TV… some maybe 20 years ago.  At his leisure these days Densel commands upward and over $20 million per film.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2011/11/03/hollywoods-most-overpaid-stars/2/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2212271/Denzel-Washington-wife-29-years-Pauletta-look-love-holiday-Italy.html

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/denzel-washington-denies-divorce-rumors

Densel and Paulette started dating in 1977… 3 or 4 years later they married.  He was then a struggling and aspiring actor, and she was an actor/dancer, some 5 years his senior.  They have been married 29 years… and are the parent of 4 or 5 children.

Since Densel is declaring that his marriage is not over… I guess unlike so many other couples… they both must feel that their marriage is worth fighting for.

Either that or all this talk about divorce really is… nothing but senseless rumors.

And I say bravo… to that.  Which ever 1 it is…

The alleged other woman is this… from what I gather, is actress Lanaa Lathan, of that hit movie ‘Love & Basketball.’

Didn’t she used to be  Omar Epps’ girl-friend years ago?

Lathan looks good now…and has always been pretty.  But Densel’s wife is beautiful.  And I know whatever he does… if this thing might be true…  Densel is going to be thinking about his kids… and the effects upon them and their mother.  And, of course, his pocketbook… otherwise that $150 million divorce article might come true.

At this stage of the game I believe Denzel to be mature enough to definitely not be going through that thing what Donald Trump and Ivana went through.  That thing which so many men say they go through.  That…that thing… which is actually an excuse for exchange in sexual partners and/or wives… called ‘mid-life crisis.’

Well, God bless… hope you are having a great week this week.  I am so happy that the weather has broke.  I needed the relief from all that heat.

I am still nursing my foot.  Still trying my best to stay off of it as much as I can.

Again let me say that I want to thank those of you very much  who have ventured out and purchased my book… which can be ordered on-line at any number of websites… just google THE BISHOP’S WIFE by Bernadine Smith… and see for yourself.  And you can also read excerpts from my book on-line as well at Barnes&Nobles Nook, amazon.com etc…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2013

Add a comment July 26, 2013

PAULA DEEN CHEF BY DAY… RACIST BY NIGHT… THE FIRST FAMILY…

Sometimes things just slip out when we least expect them to.

Sometimes some of the things we do and say may not seem hypocritical or hurtful to us.

Sometimes things just catch up with us.

Sometimes we pretend to be 1 way but really are another.

Which of these scenarios do you think best fits celebrity chef Paul Deen?

When 1 of my next door neighbors stopped me to tell me this story I must admit I did not understand what she was saying.  I thought she was talking about some radio station DJ acting a fool again, like Imus in the Morning had done… before he got canned.  But it was not until my son began to tell me this story that I finally got a clearer picture of what my neighbor had been trying to say to me.

Not a big television watcher I really was not familiar with the name, Paula Deen.  Though my neighbor had said it and said it again several times, as if I should have known her personally.  But of course I did not.  But now that I have looked up the story, I have to admit that I had caught Paula Deen at least once tossing in a couple bars of butter into some dish she was preparing on the Food Network.

One could hardly say that what she said was purely by accident.  Meaning it was how she was accustom to talking… though never before the cameras.  And why not I wonder?

Well, maybe because she knew it was wrong.  That it was backwards and intolerable.  But however backwards that way of thinking is and talking… it finally caught up with Paula Deen.  Oh, yeah, she can blame it on her back home training and down-home southern roots.  But can that really justify what Paula said… or has been talking for years?  I mean she is a grown woman… a grand-mother at that besides being a big time TV chef.  So, she is certainly old enough to know that using that word or any word like it was unacceptable and offensive to many.  And that the times have long ago changed… when white people could simple use such words and get away with it.

Let us examine this in its totality.  Exactly what did Paula Deen say?

Well, it seems that Paula Deen liked throwing around the ‘N’ word.  She and her brother,  a partner with her is some restaurant they own together.   They both based upon reports liked calling some of their non-white workers by the ‘N’ word.   And Paula called a TV assistant the word a few times too many it certainly appears.

In a legal action brought against Paula Deen …and 1 possibly against her brother too,  both are accused has having referred to African American employees as the little ‘N’ word.  In various news reports it is stated that her brother continuously referred to at least 1 employee as ‘a little monkey.’  And it also seems that Paula Deen was planning someone’s wedding… where get this… Paula decided it would nice to have a ‘plantation style wedding’ with some little (the ‘N’ word) running around and dressed up like slaves.

Now, how far in denial was she?

Who did she believe would not get upset or find that ‘offensive?’ 

There are people who just do not want to let the ol’ south go.  They want to pretend like the Civil War really did not happened.  And that the ol’ south will rise up once again.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/paula-deen-today-days-no-show-article-1.1380902

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/paula-deen-issues-video-apology-racial-slur-article-1.1379262

So, yeah I would say that Paula Deen’s out and out racists remarks and backward thinking deserved to get her booted off the Food Network… seeing that many African Americans love that channel, and many other minority people, as well.  And a whole lot of ethnic cooking goes on on that network.

In fact, many of Paula Deen’s southern style recipes have their direct roots in the African American style of cooking… whether Paula would admit to it or not.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/paula-deen-today-show-cancellation-food-network-firing_n_3489726.html

So, lets face it we live in a big world… full of lots of people of all sorts… all kinds of nations and religions etc.  And the world and its people are forever growing.

Is it not time that we put aside ever strife and ill thinking when it comes to people who do not look like us?

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50149463n

But there are some people who just want to believe that they are more superior to other people.  That they are smarter… more progressive… higher achievers… more accomplished etc… etc… etc.  And there are... but it is just not the ones who usually think they are.

When you go back into history and really track this thing… if the  truth be total all civilization got its start in Africa.  The first universities, libraries, mathematicians etc… you name it… architects, astrologers etc. etc… all of it got started in African.  In fact, scientists today are still mystified by some ancient ruins.  They are even still trying to figure out just how certain structures such as the pyramids had been built.

The books say Africans were not seafaring people.  But historical events defy that lie.  In Biblical scripture, II Chronicles 8:18, it speaks of a man named, Huram, who was a master builder who had built up cities for King Solomon, for storage of his chariots and riches.  This man Huram also had servants who manned his ships.  Yes, the Bible said ‘ships.’  And it also said that this man’s men possessed knowledge of the sea.

Which goes to say that yes even way back then, thousands of years ago, in Solomon’s time African men were building large sea vessels and riding the seas.   When you consider the land mass of Africa in Biblical times… Africa stretched straight to and included Asia.   Which takes me to another point and that is… that the entire Bible basically takes place in Africa… not in Europe except for when Caesar and Rome come into the picture, and those other places across the Mediterranean Sea, such as Macedonia and Greece etc.  As all the countries and/or nations as we know them today had not been birth yet… nor boundaries such as those of today, therefore, Africa in its time had to have been very powerful.  This is something which has never been reflected in any of our history books.

The history books also do not reflect all the great contributions and inventions created by African Americans even while in this country.  And there a tremendous amount of them of considerable importance not only to this country but to the world… but there is a reason.

This reason goes all the way back to the myth and historical stereotyping of us that had been created and propagated by those who desired to keep what they called us back then ‘darkies’ in their place.  So, the myth was that we were not smart… could not learn… were lazy and shiftless.  Also, as time went on it became that we were born criminals… and scoundrels… and not to mention that we were less than human… animals to be owned and bred.

And so… here we are today in the 21st Century still having to deal with old myths and stereotypes … and names made to keep us down… hold us back and seemingly needy.  They were created to hinder us and our children from ever achieving anything in this country… least of all any level of pride and our own sense of real self-worth.

It is interesting that this Paula Deen thing has come up when it has… as I happened to catch a portion of a television program Sunday.  As I have already made mention in at least a couple of my prior blogs, as well as, this 1 I really rarely watch television any more… but I happened to be over my sister’s house this weekend, and normally while there I try to catch up on my television watching… as there is really nothing else for me to do there except to watch television.  So, this show was called ‘THE FIRST FAMILY.’  It was… or is supposed to be a spoof on the Obama family in the White House.  Needless to say I found it to be repulsive and a slap in the face to our real First Family.

I remember sitting in class and a discussion came up about a made for TV movie on the Reagan family during Reagan’s White House years.  Mind you that this discussion was years after Regan was dead and after he had long left the White House.  Yet, the outcry against that movie was soooooo great.  Every talk show hosts and news medium was doing a story on the uproar that movie was causing.  The TV network that was set to air the movie backed out… and another network picked it up.  But there were tons of letters …there were lots of phone calls… there were a lot of screaming and hollering over this movie about this man, Ronald Reagan, and how this movie would portray his legacy, his image, his years as a President etc… etc.. etc..  They saw it as being aimed to discredit Regan, and refused to allow the movie to air without a fight.  And fight they did.

When you think of the Queen of England and how they hold her is such high regard and her position as Queen, they would never allow any sit-com to be made about the Royal Family where they would be the brunt of jokes… and made to look incompetent.  This is also the why they used to think in this country concerning the White House and the Presidency until…

Well…  until the Obama’s moved into the White House.

I am very proud of the First Family, the Obama’s.  Compared to the vast majority of the Presidents who have occupied the White House they are truly a family to be put up as a national example of what a good family is supposed to not only look like, act like or be like… but is.  The President, Barack Obama, and his wife, Michelle Obama, are more than just great parents they are exceedingly good role models for those looking to marry.  They exemplify what 1 should seek in his or her future marriage with regard to their husband or wife.  And how to ensure that your marriage works.

So, yes I find any show, play, television program or anything else designed to make a mockery of them totally distasteful and highly offensive… and clearly an attempt to be a slap in the face of President Barack Obama and his family.   It is beyond me if they really wanted a laugh how no one thought to come up with a sit-com on the Bush’s… wouldn’t have had to look far for material to laugh about there.

Hopefully, that show will get cancelled… and it never should have been allowed in the first place.  What an insult to all of us.

Now, going back to Paula Deen and her story.  Yes, she definitely deserved to get the boot off the Food Network.  I would venture to say if ever there was a word she wished she had probably never learned… it was the ‘N’ word.  It cost her greatly… and rightly so.

Well, God bless…I hope you are having a great week.  I know… it has just gotten started.  But I can still wish that you have a great 1.  Stay out of the heat and work on getting something done.  And I will be doing likewise… and as you can I already have.  Another blog… FINISHED.

I thank those of you very much  who have ventured out and purchased my book… which can be ordered on-line at any number of websites… just google THE BISHOP’S WIFE by Bernadine Smith… and see for yourself.  And you can also read excerpts from my book on-line as well at Barnes&Nobles Nook, amazon.com etc…

Oh, before I end this just let me say for the record that I am not familiar with either of the African American history books whose picture I used in this blog.  So, should I at some time in the future ever read them… or if you do… and find them less than truthful or wholly without merit… please do not believe I suggested them as being that which they may not be.  And that is truthful with regard to our history as African people and African American people in America.

UP-DATE…Tuesday, June 25, 2013:   Just a little update on the Paula Deen story… something that I came across today.  The Food Network owns another network.  And Paula’s show on that network was not pulled.  Uh-huh…  How people do love to play games.  It looks 1 way 1 way… while they are doing something else another way.

Okay, now that the cat is out of the bag lets see what the Food Network is really going to do… on their sister channel…

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-25/paula-deen-hasnt-been-fired-from-this-channel

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2013

4 comments June 24, 2013

SOME PASTORS…IVY HILLARD… Richy Rich…

I don’t know maybe it is just me.   No, it is not just me.  But this kind of thing makes me mad.  And not that I did not know that this was what Ivy Hillard’s ministry was all about.  Because I did… since I knew he was clearly into prosperity.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/texas-megachurch-pastor-asks-congregation-to-sow-52-favor-seeds-to-upgrade-helicopter-blades-98331/

The reason why so many people are pulling away from the church or any kind of real Biblical teaching is because you have a lot of people who are frauds.  These people usually have mega-churches… wheel around in expensive lavish cars… eat in the best restaurants… and live in exclusive places or gated communities.  While serving over congregations of people who are barely making it… and wondering why?

Now, I know in whom I believe.  But some people sit in mega-churches following these big time preachers believing that 1 day they too will catch a hold of the wind, and end up living large on some secluded beach front property.  But it never happens.  Least ways not to them.

First of all they are following the wrong thing.  Have you not heard, ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God?’

But they seek money… riches of this worlds… and the things these big time preachers flaunt in front of them telling them, ‘You can have it too.’

Yeah, right…

Well, they can.  But not by using tons of people to get it.  Because using people to get over is not how God works.

So, when Bishop  Ivy Hillard went to his congregation… or texted them… or sent out his eblast or whatever… about giving him $50,000 so he could fix his helicopter, more than half of his church congregation should have finally seen the light.  A bright beacon should have suddenly shined into their life if it had not already done so regarding who they were really following.  And I’m talking about the ‘real’ light.

Maybe even lightening should have struck them.  But however it happened or however… it should have hit them and knocked them flat on the ground.

What audacity.

Truthfully, they all should be getting up out of there, and leaving that church and that man with all his bills.   And we would see how long it would take for the auctioneers to start pulling up.

With his fancy suits and bright ties… he is just living too large.  And it has all been on them… his parishioners.

And he has not been ashamed to flaunt it.

Now, I do not get off on seeing people live well.  I like nice things myself.  And as quietly as it kept… I feel I live pretty nicely myself.

But I do not do it on the back of others.

I recall listening to hHillard’s wife speak at a T.D. Jake’s ‘Woman Thou Art Loose Conference,’ a few years ago.  She lead off by telling us about her and her husband’s airplane, how they each have their own helicopters,  or something like that…and I forget whatever else said about their ‘things.’  But I found it all to be less than interesting.  It did not faze me in the least.

I understood what she was trying to do.  She was trying to get all the ‘ooooh’s’ and ‘ahhhh’s‘ persons caught up in what she was saying.  And I guess she did… because the following week she began having her own conference. And I imagine some of those ‘ooooh’ and ‘ahhhh’ people were right there.

But I think it is shameful for a preacher or anyone to milk their people… or try to con or milk people out of money.  Or anything else.  And I really think it is horrible when people of the cloth, in the name of Jesus or God, go about attempting to pollute the good reputation of God and/or Jesus by holding up His or their names in order to con those not smart enough to see through them.

I think I have expressed my feelings now…

Well, God bless…and thank you very much those of you who have ventured out and purchased my book… which can be ordered on-line at any number of websites… just google THE BISHOP’S WIFE by Bernadine Smith… and see for yourself.  And you can also read excerpts from my book on-line as well at Barnes&Nobles Nook, amazon.com etc…

Got to get going promised a friend that I would do something for him.  So, take care and enjoy your evening….

Just 1 more thing before closing…  Let me just say get into the Bible for yourself and learn the Word of the Lord for yourself.  This is not to say ‘do not go to church.’   Because I would never tell you that… and that would be foolish.  But find yourself a good church that truly loves and believes in the Lord.  And whose faith is not founded upon filthy lucre… meaning ‘money.’

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2013

Add a comment June 19, 2013

The Pavilion Book Expo… THE BISHOP’S WIFE…

Pull all these book promos because I liked them… and at the time I was trying to decide just how to go about producing 1 myself.  I am 1 of those people who likes to look and see what everybody else is doing… then decide upon how I’m going to do it.

When it came to creating the cover for my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE, I went to Barnes&Nobles and walked around just looking at the book covers trying to decide which grabbed my attention the most and why?  Then I went home and began creating…

For the past 2 or 3 years I have been contacted by the America Book Expo about taking part in their event.  It is costly but a fellow author-girl, forgot her name… but she has several books out and a great website…forgot that too… but it is her name  Tracie something or other .com… I think.   Well, she told me that she is there every year passing out her books.  She says you really go there to sell… but to make contacts.  Plus the libraries attend purchasing books for their shelves.  Maybe next year who knows… I would really love to do it.

Right now THE BISHOP’S WIFE may not be a best seller but my sells are picking up.  I do receive royalty checks.  And I have sold a lot of books over this site… which is why I first started writing a blog in the first place.

So, I guess my efforts paid off.  Then I kind of liked writing on this site… it gives me an outlet to express my opinions, thoughts… and feelings on various topics and issues as they pop up.  And I kind of lot having my say and not having anybody to tell me I can’t.

I get asked often about promotions and self-publishing.  One thing I can tell you for sure and that is that there are a lot of free avenues for you to exhaust before you start thinking about shelling out that big dough to all those different publishing companies who make you a lot of empty promises.  Social media is free exploit it… it can get you out there, and that is exactly what you need… to get out there.  And there are a lot of ways you can do it… and it can work for you if you are smart, aggressive and diligent.

And yes, writing a book is very much like going into business.  You have to push it…  A business can’t run by itself… and neither can your book.  It goes way beyond just having a few pages printed up.

At any rate… here are a few of my book promos along with some other author’s book promos… and some footage from the Pavilion Book Expo…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2013

Add a comment April 30, 2013

Another Post I never got around to Publishing… SOUL TRAIN MUSIC AWARDS a couple years ago… TEXAS STABBINGS & EXPLOSION at BOSTON MARATHON

Talk about not getting around to POST… when I finally came back to this blog it was I don’t know how long.  Now, after that it has been several weeks more  …had to add the tags and things.  And finally today here it goes…after a bomber or more…struck at the Boston Marathon today just as the runners started crossing the finish line.

I almost wrote… I’m just shaking my head… but it takes more than that if we ever expect to get a handle on this.  And it goes beyond insanity to some type of morbid inner nothingness that these people have who go out and do these type of things.

Well, nevertheless…. here is another Post that I just never got around to publishing for one reason or other.  After briefly reading through it I thought that I might share it with you…it seems that I felt like sharing some more of myself in it to you… wonder why?

I rarely like telling much about myself… though I must say that you really cannot tell it by reading many of my blogs.  But for the record… I cannot remember at all when I wrote this but it was a while back… so today I am feeling great and the day is sunny and beautiful.

Now, here is that blog which I failed to published some time ago…

Not feeling well today… but I am not complaining.  Because I have had many more days when I didn’t feel bad at all.  And not many people can say that.

I am just a touch under the weather.  And because I am not accustom to being sick… it tends to bother me a little more than most people.

The other thing is… I do not take medication.  Not at all.   Well… almost not at all.  There have been times when I had to breakdown and swallow something… or go in and have them give me a shot or something… but not often.  And believe me when I say… I have to be in an awful lot of  pain and/or discomfort for me to do it.

Otherwise, I just suffer whatever it is that is bothering me… until it goes away.  Not many people can do that… or attempt to do that.  Since so many people rush to go grab up a bottle of this or that at the slightest on-set of something they think may be bothering them… they never even try to fight off anything.

But this is just a little slight cold.  A sliver of dust must have gotten into my system while I was helping my brother move some furniture that he chose to move from my parent’s house into his new apartment.  And since I am allergic to house dust… and it didn’t take much before I started itching then a tickle came into my throat.  But as soon as the dust gets out of my system I will be up and about again.

But this past weekend I had a chance to catch the Soul Train Music Awards.  Needless to say… I did not know most of  acts or  the awardees.  But, of course, I did recognize Anita Baker and Ron Isley as they paid tribute to them.

But I waited around watching because I had never seen Eryka Badu perform before… and boy…oh, boy…  What a disheartening show it really was.

For one thing how can anyone who portrayed herself as being so Afro-centric ever have lighten their skin?

Well, that is exactly what Eryka Badu has done… or so it appeared to be the case to me.  And she looked terrible.  At first I didn’t even notice it… because it was kind of subtle and her face was camouflaged by the hat she was wearing.  It cast a shadow over her face.

We have all read about black women in Africa and the West Indies doing it… but to see that Eryka Badu has stooped to bleaching????

It is insane.  If anything I have always wanted to be darker… but lighter no.  A cousin of mine slipped and started calling me ‘light’ and I totally disliked it.  She was trying to anger me.  And she did the moment she let that slip out of mouth.

Needless to say, Eryka has always been a bit wired and out there.  She likes doing things to grab attention… I guess you could say.   I remember when she first came onto the music scene… everybody thought that the very long dredlocks she was sporting then were her own.  But low-and-behold… over a period of  time we all came to find out that it had been a wig or more than likely dred extensions.   After that I think she went to having no hair at all.

But seeing Erykah Badu with lighter skin… was discussing to me.  Talking about a mindless woman… who evidently hates herself.  I wouldn’t want attention that bad.  And whatever song that was… that she song on the Soul Train Music Awards… if  it was intended to catapult  the re-emergence of  her  singing career?

I think not.  For all it was worth she could have stayed home.  But I must say that I did love the hat… and that was about all I liked about this whole supposed Soul Train Music Awards.

For the most part most of  the music on the Soul Train Music Awards show really wasn’t even ‘soul music’ any more.   But a bunch of that ‘neo-soul’  junk.

So, in watching the Soul Train Music Awards… I began to feel that we are loosing our identity…our musical identity and authenticity.   An identity and authenticity which has marked and ruled… in my opinion the whole music world in this country since we came to these shores as slaves brought to America.  And my did we bring something with us.

Some of the best and most authentic music America has ever had  really came out of a revised culture whose roots were founded in slavery.  Much like the food we developed here called ‘Soul Food.’  Hence, Soul Music… the Blues… Doo-Wop… Gospel Music… Rhythm & Blues  etc… etc.. etc…

In watching the Soul Train Music Awards show I felt that soul music had been replaced by a bunch of  people who neither wrote lyrics  or  played real instruments.  People who only looked black, but were trying very hard to appear as weird and way-out as they possibly could be.   This because it would seem that everything today concerning music is about branding and images… and far less than about true talent… real vocal skills or any skills as far as being a musician or a real song writer.  What happened to artists with the talent of a Little Stevie Wonder or a Prince?

Based upon what I had seen those type of talents had faded far far far away.

None of  them… this group or now generation singers seemed to want to have any connection to the music that put Motown on the charts, or  Philly on the map… or  Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, New York,  and LA.  Or that had made other urban places  hubs for the rich urban soul sound and melodic tones that had come to be called ‘soul music’  or  ‘rhythm & blues”  …or even “gospel.”

While watching the Soul Train Music Awards… there were no Anita Bakers or Ron Isleys awaiting in the crowd to hear their names called for award.  In fact, the only soulful talenst on the show was Anita Baker, Ron Isley, Pebo Bryson, Chante Moore, Rochelle Ferrell, Jeffery Osborne and a few others.  But clearly the ‘soul‘  that had been in the history of  Soul Train is now gone.

Everybody wants to be a cross-over artist… some neutral detergent that appears to be black or African American but actually doing some white thang.

The whole time I sat watching the Soul Train Music Awards… which is something I have not watched in years… or any other music or movie  awards show in years.   As I had long ago felt that they had been watered down to appeal to more less urban audiences.

But it was frightening for me to see  such a lost of what seemed to me to be a vast depreciation of  what has always been ours… our real musical genius and talenst… gifted voices and fantastic lyric writing… such as that of  Barry White and Issac Hayes… Holland,-Dozier-Holland, Ashford & Simpson, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield… etc…etc… all to be turned into something which sounded a lot more like that puff of glitter disco music and digitized junk.  And I must say that I see the exact same thing  happening to gospel music.

In gospel music there has developed a vast desire to be played on something ‘called‘ Christian Radio stations…  which in my opinion is nothing but a bunch of  rock music  stations playing rock music and calling it ‘Christian Music.’

It would be a shame to loose the richness of  our music… and the history that our music carries with it to the junk I bared witnessed to on the Soul Train Music Awards.  Outside of the tributes to some real Soul legends… there was nothing on that show I would have voted to give 1 award to.

One day we will look up and no one will know what ‘soul music’  was or that it had ever been.  They will not know that there had been such groups like Blue Magic, the Dramatics, Delfonics, Temptations, Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, the Manhattans, Teddy Pendergrass, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Chi-Lites, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Phyllis Hyman, Najee, Kirk Walham, the Sylvers, Michael Jackson, the Jackson 5, the Sugar Hill Gang and the list goes on and on and on…  And those are just those from my era there tons more before them.

Who can forget when James Brown first cried-

“Say it loud I’m black and I’m proud.”

Or, “Baby, please don’t go.”

Or when Curtis Mayfield song these words-

“If  I had a choice of  colors.”

Or Nina came with-

“To be young gifted and black.”

Maybe there is no need for such lyrics like these today anymore.  But that can’t true… particularly after what I just said about Eryka Badu and skin bleaching.   But then how about-

“La-la-la means I love you… I love you.”

What about –

“They’re smiling in your face…all the while they want to take your place.”

Will soul music die like jazz has died?

There are no more jazz artists like Max… Coltrane …  Gillipsie…  or Yusuf LaTiff… or Miles …. any more.

Or how about a Junior Parker…  or another B.B. King…  or Muddy Waters…  or Bo Diddley and their special blend?

Now, I must admit that these days I am strictly into gospel music… but having a history in the radio industry it is hard for me to not realize the importance of preserving this cultural history.  It is ours… and our children need to be recipients of at least knowing of that it once was.  We cannot just forsake everything.

These musical forms and artists are long gone…  Well, more or less off the musical scene… the ones I just mentioned above.  And soon along with their names will the memories of Blue Magic, Phyllis Hyman, the Dells, Temptations, Supremes, the Staple Singers and everybody else either before them or who came after them like Chak Khan, Earth, Wind & Fire, Emotions etc. be forgotten too.  To be replaced by a bunch of  people who have forsaken moving bass beats for  neo- tinty sounds that have nothing soul about them.  Music you can hop and jump up and down to… like we used to watch those young white kids do on those afternoon after school dance shows like the Dick Clark Show.   But they can’t really dance to.  And I guess that is really the point… its not meant to be danced to… but just to make some money.

Forget art…   What does art have to do with it?

No wonder the Soul Train Musical Awards show didn’t resemble anything like their old award shows… or for that matter… didn’t come close to emitting anything I would have called ‘soul’… outside of having a tribute to a few past ‘soul’ artists.  What a real shame…a legacy gone to naught…

I hate to say it… but little wonder Don Cornelius took a gun…  When you sell off something your control of it goes too…  Truly the history of Soul Train will never be the same…

Well, God bless… it’s Monday and I have been relaxing most of my day.  Then I started getting calls about an explosion in Boston.

After the stabbings on a Texas Campus last week… and now these explosions in Boston during the Boston Marathon… coupled with the guy shooting up the movie theater and that boy killing all those children plus his mother, in a Connecticut classroom…  Can you really say that we are not living in divers times?

I can’t imagine anybody saying that since they were 9 years old they had had fantasies about stabbing people.   FANTASIES ABOUT STABBING PEOPLE?

When I called my son to tell him about the explosions at the Boston Marathon today, he said to me-

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2013

Add a comment April 15, 2013

PRESIDENT OBAMA and GUN CONTROL… the View on Chris Christie and Weight…

It is a shame that it took this long for this conversation to sincerely and truthfully come to the forefront of American conscientiousness… but at last it has happened.  And 1 might say several senseless massacres too many before something should have really been done… like a long time ago.

After mass killings after mass killings finally the United States government is taking a stand, and President Obama is initiating laws against assault weapons and hand guns…all of which the Republicans for the most part want no part of it.

Well, I understand when your biggest financial campaign contributor is a gun manufacturer, and you have all those gun lobbyist sitting on Capitol Hill.  Yes, that might sway your judgment about gun control until it becomes a question of your own son or daughter…getting killed in some movie theater… grade school or upon some college campus etc…

I’m happy that President Obama has said enough is enough, and is taking a lead on doing something that the Congress and the Senate of the United States has refused to have taken seriously for all these years and episode after episode.

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/16/16544842-obama-unveils-sweeping-new-gun-control-proposals?lite

But  what is so annoying and distasteful to me is how the Republicans hate President Obama…and are so very disrespectful of him.  they despise him. And no matter what good President Obama tries to do… they are against him.   Whereas, no matter what George Bush did…    In fact, it appeared that everything George Bush did was good to them… down to lying about weapons of mass destruction… and sending off people’s sons and daughters to be killed in wars which should not have been.   But they… those arrogant Republicans stood by George Bush… all the way.   Pushed pass everything Bush wanted without so much as a sniffle.  But oh how they cry bloody murder over everything that President Obama does or tries to do.  And then they want to say that ‘they are not racist.’

Yeah, sure…

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/states-obama-gun-proposals-constitutional/story?id=18243043

Finally got a chance to read the above entire article LINK.  Those republicans are a real joke. They can’t even bring themselves to call Obama ”Mister President” or ‘President Obama.’. It seems that uttering those words when referring to the President would seriously hurt them.

What kind of fool do they think President Obama is?

Trying to scare Obama by saying they will consider impeaching him for legally using Presidential authority granted unto him, as President of the United States. I don’t think anything dumber has EVER been said. What a bunch of fools.

Arrogance… ignorance and hatred will make a fool of you all the time… and that is the state that the American Republican party is in.  They are arrogant… ignorant fools.  And they show that by making the stupid statements such as those expressed in the above news LINK.

I am so happy Obama is not a chump. He doesn’t back down.. and he knows exactly who he is and they can’t stand that.

He’s the President…and they are only members of the House… He’s ”head houcho”…and that really bugs ’em…. And even worst of all Obama acts like it…and THAT is killing them.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/01/republicans-accuse-obama-of-using-position-as-president-to-lead-country.html

http://socialreader.com/me/channels/28439/content/sNxMe

It is far beyond the time for the Federal Government to step up into the role of ensuring the safety of the American Public by enacting laws that will lower the availability of guns to the criminally minded, and those who have some insane agendas.  These incidences have become too frequent and they are escalating.  I am just story that it took a bunch of very young school children to signify this point.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/01/17/Biden-Time-has-come-on-gun-violence/UPI-44991358409600/

I just happened to catch a segment on The View regarding gun control and various methods that can be put into place at schools.  It was 1 of those rare times that I must admit to being totally in agreement with Elisabeth Hasselbeck… who is almost always a voice of dissension on that show… and a devote Republican.

Whoopie, Sharri and Barbara were all for guns being given to school teachers as a good method of curving school killings.  Which is something I find to be totally ludicrous.

Do not teachers go berserk and fall off the deep end too?

Of, course some do.  And then the other side of that scenario is this…

What happens when a student gets a hold of 1 of his or her teacher’s guns?

Or even worst…  What happens when a school shooting occurs and the police arrive and can’t determine who is the real culprit with so many people firing guns?

Because arming teachers and/or other school faculty staff is a very very bad idea… so many walking and carrying guns in school this could very well become a worst problem… and dilemma would arise at  knowing who to shoot at.   In the heat of a shoot out… like out on the battlefield this is not necessary 1 of the easiest things to decipher…  Hence, ‘friendly fire.’

But fear and a haste to make all the wrong choices by putting into place measures that could bring about even worst consequences, than the problems we now face itself  are worthy of some deep thought.  And it is not Obama’s plans that I fear… but all these so-called do-gooders who may have some very flawed thinking triggered by lots of fear… or hidden agendas… all coming… running with their irrational suggestions.

I was not in favor either of arming flight attendants.  And thank God we got over that fear… when flying high in the friendly skies.

It would have been a disaster if suddenly a shoot out  between a passenger and airline personnel broke out in an aircraft… leaving all the passengers in grave danger not to mention the aircraft itself.  And so would be arming teachers or other supposed teaching professionals with guns be too.  The last time I checked that  shooting at Sandy Nook school, in Connecticut where 26 people were killed… and most of theml children under the age of 10… it was the mother (the school teacher of that classroom)… who had owned those guns which were used…by her crazed son.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/18/16584988-woman-protected-from-rapist-by-boy-14-with-hunting-knife-after-she-leaps-from-car?lite

The article reads that the woman…the female victim was the true hero here…

But, no.  It was the 14-year-old boy who opened the door and let her into him parent’s home who was the real hero…because it was at risk to himself and his 2 younger siblings.

I am, however, sure that his parent’s might have seen this picture entirely different… and particularly since the crazed man, who had kidnapped the young woman, torched their home in an effort to get the young female victim back.

The young 14-year-old in this story definitely deserves to be praised.  But I know his parents must have an entirely different take on this story.  But he saved that young woman’s life…while at the same time putting at risk his own, and that of his younger sister and brother.  And not to mention their family home.

But it was an unselfish act.  And a lot of times people can’t understand unselfish acts…because they only see the dangers in them.

But this boy will probably be blessed for the rest of his life…because he did what God calls all of us to do.  To love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  The text actually specks of laying down your life for your brother.  Something that I know would run across no parent’s mind at the time when they hear how their home and family was put into jeopardy by the actions of 1 their older child.

And going back to The View… on that same show they were also discussing Governor Chris Christie and his weight.  Truthfully speaking I felt a bit offended.  They made it sound like ALL overweight people are unhealthy… which is definitely not the case.  And they also made it sound like only overweight people have health problems… and we all know that is definitely not true.

But what struck me as being somewhat bias was Whoopie’s response to the whole conversation.  She who for many years… if not still… has been known to be a very heavy smoker.  Even while listening to Whoopie speak you can hear the effect of those years of smoking upon her voice.  Yet she failed to mention that her own addiction… the 1 to cigarettes is even far more unhealthy and harmful…if not just as much so… as she talked about all of Christie’s weight wearing on his heart… and would hinder his ability to do the job of a President effectively.

According to the consensus cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, accounting for close to 17 percent of total healthcare spending.  Cardiovascular issues include: hypertension, coronary artery disease, acute myocardial infarction, per-cutaneous coronary intervention, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure.

Cigarette smoking is a major contributor to the
three most prevalent causes of death in African Americans… heart disease, cancer, and stroke. All people, regardless of race and ethnicity, can become addicted to tobacco and can be damaged by the harmful effects of smoking.

So, what I am saying is this…  Governor Christie should not be singled out and declared unfit… or otherwise unhealthy simply because of his weight.  It brings about an astigmatism that is many times placed upon all heavy-set people unjustly.  Causing many of them to not get health benefits… jobs… and oftentimes ostracized.  Which certainly is not fair and treads upon their civil rights.

It is very likely that if Christie chooses to run again as Governor of New Jersey… tries to leap out into Presidential waters his weight is going to be continuously made a factor.  And that really should not be.

I recall that this guy wrote this book called ‘THE JOY OF JOGGING.’   He was an avid jogger.  By every regard he was considered in good health… and his body trim and fit.  One day while out jobbing the man dropped dead from a heart attack.  I am not trying to poke fun here… but merely saying skinny or fat… tall or short… you are subject to drop dead or have a heart attack.  And yes, I would agree that having more weight upon your body does put stress upon your heart, but so doesn’t smoking or some of those other bad habits like excessive drinking or drug abuse… etc…

So, then why keep talking about this man… Christie like it just doesn’t happen to skinny or fit people.  Because that is a lie.

Now, I do not advocate being overweight.  Lord, no…  I have had my own issues and battles with it.  But I also can see where such a conversation is hurtful, demeaning and liable to bring about discrimination to those seeking  job placement… or whatever.

God bless…hope you enjoy your weekend.  I think I may get so much needed sleep… and edit some video projects this weekend.

And remember that Monday… this coming Monday is both President Barack Obama’s second inaugural… AND Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.’s birthday celebration.  Enjoy them both… and I am hoping to see you in D.C for the festivities.  But if not please enjoy it for me too.

I am so happy about it.  Truly a time to remember…   And if you can be part of it don’t let the opportunity go by… by not being so.

And happy belated birthday FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA… can’t close without saying that.   I love you.

In fact, I love you both….  And 49 is a great year…  A very good year indeed…

And I hope that you are checking for a picture of me in these blogs…  Who knows I might even think of doing something real special.  Just keep looking out for me… in my blogs.

Add a comment January 18, 2013

Bits and pieces from my FACEBOOK page…#1

Thought I would schiff through some of my Facebook postings to share a few of them with you…

So, here goes…

• When I was very young I kept having this re-occurring dream. It was always the exact same dream every night… and I always awoke at the exact spot in the dream.  The dream scared me. So, one night I prayed to God to take the dream away from me. And He did…that very night…and I have never ever dreamed that dream again.

            But I did not ever forget that dream.

In that dream I was always being chased…or so it seemed to me then…by these people with wings…like birds… who flew just above me… but somewhat slightly back just about over my head… 3 of them…

I always thought as a child…that they were chasing me. I never knew that God had dispatched them to watch over me.

And so I have…all my life…been watched over. Even though I prayed that prayer…and He stopped the dream…but He kept up the watch over me.

God’s favor….and I didn’t even know it until one of my brother’s told me… concerning something else in my life. And when he said, “Oooh, Bernadine, God favors you.”  I really nearly fainted… that thang scared me nearly to death.

God favored me????

Me???

That was such a frightening thought.

God???

Big…powerful God???

All these million upon millions of people???

I’m still scared by the thought of it…but I know it’s true.

Why?

I do not know…   But He does…He loves me…

• A while back last year I was at Newark Airport…and I was curious how many of the guys helping people with their luggage were there that day when they flew Whitney’s body in from LA?

            I wanted to know if a lot people had gathered that day here at the airport?

            That day Whitney flew into Newark Airport as she had never flown in before. She may have had a limousine… but she left that airport as she had never left it before.

We come all come into this world one way…and leave it in another. But as we existed before in another form… so shall be then exit here to be in yet another form. But whether we have victory or end up in defeat…life everlasting in peace and joy… depends entirely upon what we do while we are in this form…

• It has come to my attention just now that a lot of people come to me seeking my advice on a variety of subjects…and I counsel.

Sometimes the matters are personal…other times they are legal…or affairs of the heart…or family issues…but whatever  the subject or the matter I try to give good counsel…and sound counsel. And an ounce of wisdom…not really having a lot myself. But an ounce of good wisdom and rightly judgment is worth more than 2 barrels filled with foolishness…

• It is almost my son’s birthday. 32 years ago tomorrow I gave birth to a little bouncing baby boy…who had looked like he had been in a fight with Muhammad Ali. But he was mine… So, I loved him anyway. And when I first held him in my arms and looked down upon…I knew I couldn’t afford him.

So, by the time spring semester classes rolled around I started resuming my formal education.

One day while out walking with my son…he then was about 4 years old…he looked up and pointed at a man and said, ‘Ooh, look, mommie… there’s my daddy.’

I knew then at that very moment I had to take my son to Chicago to introduce him to his father. So, that everyday while being out he would not point at someone…and proclaim them to be his father.

Women do not demonize your children’s fathers. It does not matter whether ‘THEY’ do the right thing or not. It is absolutely wrong…and men you should not try to turn your children against their mother either. It’s wrong.

I never once spoke badly about my son’s father. Till this very day they have only met once physically…face to face. But they have occasionally spoken to one another via the phone.

After son graduated I sent him away to school. The school did not have dorms and the small southern town it was in had no cabs or buses. So, I had to get him an apartment…a car…open him up a bank account…buy him a cell (which is also the time I got one just so he could stay in connect with me and me with him)…and paid monthly installments on his schooling.

I also hopped the bus from New York headed south to check all his monthly receipts…to make sure he was paying all his bills as he should with the money I would deposit into his bank account. And while there I always went grocery shopping…buying him enough groceries for the month…though he always had money to buy whatever he wanted…and could call me if he needed more.

Some time thereafter after settling my son in he contacted his father, he told me…and asked him for some money. My son told me that his father turned him down…and told him he should leave school and go back home until he could afford it. Needless to say I was furious at hearing this story. THAT…that man had told MY son to throw away everything I had invested in my son to get him to school and set him up properly so that he could do it…and he who had done nothing told him ‘go back home.’

When my son called and told me this story I was livid…but I did not speak badly against my son’s father…but I do have a few choice words for him if ever I should see him.

But I told my son ‘no’ that he was not coming home and he was going to stay in that school until he graduated…and he was not going to waste the money ‘I invested’ in getting him a car…a cell phone…an apartment…and paying tuition to that school. And that settled that.

Some time recently my son told me that his father had contacted him requesting a loan. Over a period of some years my son has connected with some of his father’s other children…sending gifts and things to his young nephews and nieces. Also, over the years…really in a short period of time after his graduation…my son has become very very successful in his chosen field. And I guess his father had heard.

So, when my son told me about the request for a loan I asked what he told him. And he said ‘I told him no.’

And I asked nothing further…but made note in my mind that was yet another conversation I was going to have to take up with my son’s father.

Fathers…AND mothers be good to your children. And they will be good to you…if you treat them right…train them right…and always seek to do good for them and by them…and DO give them a firm foundation in the Lord…and the things of the Lord. And they shall be blessed…and you shall be blessed of them…and shall reap well the rewards of a good harvest

This big head boy is well on his way to probably becoming a millionaire before he hits 40. That is why I put him down there in that school to sit among millionaires…not their kids but ‘them.’. So, that he would know them…and so that they would know him…

And oh, yes…   I decided this year to let you really see me too.  So, occasionally I will pop up… you just keep on reading my blogs and see…  And this is me…  But from time to time I look different…depending on a lot of different factors…  You just keep looking out for me…  : )

Well, the weather has been great.  Spent the night in the hospital with 1 of my sisters the other night.  All is well…and God is soooo good.  Cannot thank Him ever enough.

Hope you enjoy the rest of this week.  And I hope that all is well with you and your family too.

God bless…hoped you enjoyed it.  I just thought I would share a little with you…

Add a comment January 11, 2013

THE DNC…the Democratic National Convention…is Mitt Romney’s money clean…SERENA & the U.S. Open… Aretha…

Well, unlike 4 years ago I have yet to say much… if anything about this the 2012 Presidential Campaign.  It has not been  for the lack of any interest… more like a bit busy these days.

But 1 thing is for sure just as it was 4 years ago… I am still an Obama girl.

As in all campaigns there are some hits and misses… so too here.  But when you stack it up side by side of DNC vs. RNC… it was the Democratic National Convention hands down over the Republican convention.

Well, for 1 thing most of the Republican speech givers must have taken a score of creative writing classes… because for the most part most of their speeches were all… for lack of a better word… creative.  Very creative indeed.

Nothing like taking on a bit of self-responsibility…or in this case Party responsibility.   The Republican Party lacks the desire to do anything but win.  It does not matter to them how they win… they just want to win.

It must be sad that the only points you can give to your team are points that you have to make up.  Creative 1.

Creative 2… you forget any role in  anything.

Creative 3… and you pretend as though ‘we want to help you.’

Yeah, right…

When I think about Mitt Romney it is a marvel to me as to how he has gotten this far?

And THEY called Jim Kerry  the ‘flip-flop’ kid.  Romney is the master at it.  No, I take that back… because it seems to me Mitt does not master anything.  He just says 1 thing now… tomorrow he’ll say something that contradicts that… and say he didn’t say that of do that.  Or he just allows his money to speak for him or do what needs to be done… and he goes from this to that saying-

“Oh, well…”

And a lot of times when he gets caught at something and doesn’t know what to say… he just looks plain lost.

Either Mitt Romney suffers from the same thing as Clint Eastwood… or the last ship just pulled out of Pennsylvania Avenue.  Which happens to be a major street way… as in roadway… not a water way.  But to those suffering from some bout of disillusion… as a Mitt Romney or an aged Clint Eastwood it may  seem like a major water way.  Because the Republican Party for sure is up a creek without a paddle… with a man who seems to have nothing else going for himself except ‘money.’

I think that it is sad when you are asked to go to a convention and cheer for a man you don’t even like.

I must admit though that the Republicans who decided to throw in their hats into the ring as contenders to become the nominee for the Presidency on the Republican ticket were…  Well, they were slim pickings.  There is no other way to have put it.  And out of that bunch of slim pickings came Mitt Romney, who gave an acceptance speech as their choice for candidate to run against President Obama… not because Mitt came with a whole lot of credentials… but rather money.

In fact, Mitt Romney has no real credentials that would make him eligible for any job.  His stint as Governor of Massachusetts was a joke.  The man was hardly there… and when you boil it all down… Mitt Romney did absolutely nothing for Massachusetts.  Mitt Romney did  zero… a big fat NOTHING.

I love when people pick up and move to some place just to run for political office.  Hillary did hit when she and Bill departed the White House, moving to New York.  Jeb Bush did it when he up-rooted himself and family from Texas to go south to Florida… where they by the way fixed the 2000 Presidential Election so his brother could win the Presidency. But Mitt left whatever state he came from to move north to Massachusetts.

Massachusetts is known for a great jumping off point for potential wanna-be Presidents.  I cannot begin to tell you how many Presidential candidates have run from the state of Massachusetts… including Kennedy and Adams who both won.  Dukakis ran… that guy with the red hair ran… Ryan I think his name was.  And I don’t know how many others.

So, along came Mitt with his Presidential dreams… seeking to springboard himself into the number 1 seat in the White House from a state known to be a good launching pad… Massachusetts.  Mitt did not move there… or rather set up a residence there by mistake.

But he did NOTHING.

Now, we are into 2012 and Mitt is running for that mantle for his fireplace up in the Alps.  He likes titles… he wants people to call him ‘Mister President’ ‘Commander’… but he has not a plan… and we won’t take about ‘a clue.’   Which Mitt doesn’t have either.  He just has money… and lots of it.

Herein lays Mitt’s dilemma…  1. Why should any American citizen want to even consider a man… much less vote for him… who has money locked away in a place-

Excuse me… I meant locked away in ‘not in a place’… but in an entirely different country other than his own… and paying no taxes on it?

2. Why does Mitt not want to divulge how much money he has?

3. Could Mitt’s money be bad?

Well, the only people I know…   I mean whom I have heard about who do that with money who are criminals… big time drug dealers, thieves and robbers etc…

So, I’m wondering which 1 …or if Mitt Romney is them all?

Because if the money is clean… legit… then I can’t understand the problem Mitt is having releasing financial his information?

I mean we all know that there are rich people in this world… and some a lot richer than others.  But they do not appear to be evading the issue of their net worth.  So, why is Mitt?

You know when you live in the hood and hear all of those stories about how ‘the real’ drug dealers are not the ones walking the streets day and night trying to sell the stuff.  That is really the truth.  It is those big time Wall Street type… the type that have big jobs, lots of money and live in penthouses… who can afford the secret air strips and pilots it take to fly that stuff in.  But the drugs never actually touch their hands …they just finance it.

They own the planes that fly the drugs in, the places where the drugs are cut or cooked, packaged and then disbursed.  They reap all the real benefits of the drug trade… (if you want to call it that) but none of its negative publicity, images, hardships or dangers.   The money goes to them… the real money… and they sit on top of the whole sha-bang looking as clean as a whistle.

So, Mitt where did you get all your money from?

I am more curious than ever… because try so hard to hide something there is usually a very good reason.  And when you are dealing with a guy who seems to have an endless supply of money… such as a Mitt Romney… I think somebody should be asking him some intense questions about his finances.

Out of  6 or 8 other Republicans who ran along with Mitt to become President… Mitt just simply out spent them all.  He had more money to spend than any of them.  Which is the only reason Mitt Romney happened to get this far.  And it has been his money that has kept him for his entire political life.

The Olympics take money… you can’t be a promoter of something like that without some really big capital to even consider financing it.  Running in all the political campaigns for as many years as Mitt has …it had to cost him some major capital.

Good investments are 1 thing… but lots of people have made good investments and evidently do have what Mitt has by way collateral.

Mitt just how did you get all your money?

Rick Santorum vowed that he was staying in the race… that Romney’s money was not going to force him out of the race.  But in the end even poor Rich just could not stand the test of time.  He simply did not have that Mitt had… by way of money.

So, 1 by 1 all the other GOP would-be nominees bailed out.  Mitt Romney it can easily be said won by  default.  And it happen because of a money deficit on the other’s sides.  They just could not hang with Mitt and all the money he was spending.

Now, it’s Obama and Mitt.  And I will say it… hands down its going to be Obama.

A Paul Ryan/Mitt Romney ticket cannot compare to an Obama/Obama/Biden ticket in anybody’s book.

Though I realized upon hearing about that HBO had a show about a Mormon family… from the moment I heard about it I knew what that program’s purpose was all about.  It was designed to show America that Mormon families are just like everybody else.  But they are not.  And a show created to sugar coat real Mormon life …and designed to desensitize Americans to the real ways, religion and practices of Mormons was all done to make way for  a Mitt Romney  win into the White House.

That show was as much a ploy… and I should political ploy whose purpose was as much a form of propaganda movies during the Cold War.  It came about to get people to feeling and saying-

“Oh, they are just like us.”

And if anyone looked real deep… they might even find out that it may have been financed either part or in whole by somebody tied to Mitt Romney or by Romney himself.

Inside the Mormon world …their close-knit families… their families are not just like ours.  Their families look nothing like ours.  They live by entirely different set of rules… and they believe differently.

Their worship is not the same… because  their root beliefs are different.  And their concept of family is different.

It is funny that when you google ‘what do Mormons believe’… it is interesting that there is no clear answer. But a variety of varied responses… like they believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost.  And so does the devil.

Okay, then maybe you should ask what do they practice religiously?

Multiple wives… women who live their lives in total submissiveness… with no power and no voice for 1, 2 and 3.

I am thankful that my God gave me the freedom to be more than a baby factory…not to be just somebody who turned out child after child.  Because that is pretty much the lives of Mormon women.  It is a man’s world as James Brown used to sing in his song by the same title.  The men within their group love that… so much so that age means nothing to them in consider to their pleasure and choice of wives.

So, I really do not understand any man who is supposedly running for the top political position in this country ….who does his banking in foreign banks… in order to hide his money.  And I do not understand any man or woman who would want to lift up a man to rule in this country …who belongs to an organization that is very much a cult…  and where the spirit and minds of women is stripped from them.

Came across a quick note about Patti LaBelle… and I was surprised to read it.  I never thought she cussed or became so enraged that she would totally loose it.  Never really seemed to be the type.  And I must say that I have met her… and I found her to be quite nice.

It all happened in a confrontation with a woman… who I believe may have been pregnant… if I remember the story right.  But was outside of a building that Patti was either entering or exiting and something or other happened that caused Patti to show a side of herself that I never would have never thought in  her.

The confrontation cost Patti $100,000 in an outside of court settlement.  Can’t imagined what happened that would have been worth that kind of payout… but Patti must have gone berserk… when she threw water on the woman and a few choice words.

Perhaps Patti reflected on it and felt so real bad about her poor behavior… and the possible shame of having this type of case go to court where people just like me… would have never thought Patti could have done such a thing… stare at her with their mouths wide open in disbelief.

But sometimes it is just a matter of it being a bad day… a very bad day.   I do not know if you have ever had 1… but I have.  The incident occurred while I was teaching in high school.  My son had done something which had really upset me… and here came this student that had been acting stupidly in my class.  Earlier in the day the actions of this boy I had let go by… I was being professional and I had not yet spoken to my son.  But by noon I heard of something about my son that had worked me up… and here came this boy… and he either said something to me or did 1 last thing… and I said to him-

“I’m so mad I could leap up in the sky and kick you right in the face.”

It is when I realized that I  was not cut out to be teacher material.  So, when the school department tried to offer me another contract to teach the following year I said no.  Besides I wanted to work on shooting my film and that had not become my focus… and goal.

Now, it wasn’t that I couldn’t handle it… teaching… or that I did not have control of my classes.  No, nothing like that.

In fact, quite the opposite… because in my classes I ruled.  And I was not very tolerant of anyone who did not come into my class to work.

Students respected me and I respected them.  But on that day… that boy crossed me at the wrong moment… and all my professionalism left me.  When I went into class the next day…. I will tell you this…  I was afraid his parents were going to be there waiting on me.  I would have if my child had come home and told me a teacher had said such a thing to them.  But evidently that boy never told it to his parents.

So, what I am saying here is that there are times when any 1 of us can lose it.  But the difference is our names are not Patti LaBelle.  And that does make a difference.  But does not any less make such times less embarrassing… or just as shameful.

Talking about shameful.  Happen to come across this picture of Patti and wondered if she is going through mid-life crisis?

I do not believe this looks decent even when the kids dress like this.  So, you know seeing this photo was a thumb down from me.

It Patti is not going through some type of mid-life crisis… between this dress and her law suit actions …I do not know what is going on?   I cannot figure another reason for Patti flashing as much flesh as this.  Personally, I like the classy Patti better.  I really think it is ridiculous when the young girls do this… and cannot understand any woman… older woman wanting to follow what the kids do.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/05/showbiz/patti-labelle-settlement/index.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/patti-labelle-lawsuit-roseanna-monk-nyc-lobby-run-in_n_1857234.html

When I heard Jesse Jackson answering a question about his son recuperating  in an interview recently… I thought that it was that his son had had a stroke or something.   The way that Jesse spoke about it and how he was smiling I would have never known anything otherwise.

I would never have thought that the Senator or Congressman… whatever he is… Jesse Jackson, Jr was in rehab due to a problem with drugs.  He always seemed to be so on top of it… sharp …clear and on point about what he was doing… saying and about his service to the people he was voted to represent.

Hard to believe.  But we pray that it all comes back together for him.  And if it was just an illusion… that he gets it together for real.

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/07/13733523-jesse-jackson-jr-back-in-washington-dc?lite

Well, Serena is tearing up the tennis courts in New York at the U.S. Open.  It is win…win ….win.  And that she is … and she appears to be more determined to continue to do so.

Serena is going after her opponents with more power… and her mental game is so strong that the other female tennis players might as well not even walk onto the courts to face her.

Serena is slaughtering them.  One behind the other Serena is shutting  everybody down… and proving in such a big way… and without a doubt she is #1.  Whether they say so or not.

Serena Williams is #1 in the world.  The #1 female athlete.  Highest grossing woman in sports …and the least celebrated.  But she is slamming it home… ‘I’M #1!’    Respect me… fear me… and and try to beat me if you dare.  And she is menacing threat because she is relentless… and packs as much physical strength as she does mental power.

And I noticed that ain’t nobody said nothing about Serena’s hair.  Oh, I forgot she’s from Compton.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/serena-williams-easily-reaches-us-230243194–ten.html

UPDATE: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2012…Well,  she is taking it home.  Serena won it all once again… not only the top women’s trophy …but the big check that went along with it.  She was a little more challenged in her final game, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, but rose to meet the challenge.

I guess you could say-

“Another one bites the dust.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/serena-williams-wins-2012-u-s-open-overpowers-1-victoria-azarenka-flushing-article-1.1155505

Just 1 more thing before I close out.  Lady ‘Re became Dr. ‘Re this past week receiving an honorary doctorate from Princeton.  Good for her…I know she was overwhelmed.

Proud of this diva…for 1 thing because she never did what a lot of other artist have done or are trying to do.  She has never forsaken her base of fans trying to seek after something else.  Because ‘Retha already knew she had what she had… and if that wasn’t good enough too bad.  (I’m smiling because I know how Aretha thinks)  That’s what makes her the Queen…and she is second to none.

http://www.essence.com/2012/06/06/aretha-franklin-earns-honorary-doctorate-of-music-from-princeton/

Thanks again to those of you who have purchased my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE.  As I said in my last blog it is amazing…  I cannot not believe how much my book is moving …and I thank you from the depths of my heart.  Please let me hear from you regarding my book.   I would love to know how you liked it… or didn’t like it… or whatever…. either way.

And if you have yet to purchase my book I found this link over the internet via barnes&nobles.com where you can read bits of a couple of my chapters.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/read/9781467055437

My book can be purchased via www.authorhouse.com, www.amazon.com, www.barnes&nobles.com   etc…etc… or by placing an order for it at your local bookstore.

Sent most of day resting today.  Had been busy this week… but glad to now be able to rest.  Hoping you get your rest on this weekend too.  Because the body does need rest… so give yourself some.  You probably deserve it too.  I know that I do.

Well, God bless… its TGIF… so I hope you enjoy your weekend.

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2012

Add a comment September 8, 2012

JUANITA BYNUM and WOMEN??? EDDIE LONG…why NOW?

Continue Reading 4 comments July 19, 2012

THE VERIZON ATTITUDE… changes in the workplace…

I can’t imagine working for anyone who threatened me.

In reading a posting on my facebook page, I read where the daughter of 1 of my facebook friends was told by her employer during Hurrican Irene-

“If any of you leaves, you’re fired.”

Meaning that if any of the employees left the job they would be terminated.

I can’t imagine me wanting to work for anyone who would even consider trying to strong-arm me like that… and particularly in a state of emergency.   But it made me think of 9/ll.

On September 11th …on the day that the airplanes flew into the World Trade Center, after the first plane hit the first tower  …many of the workers in the second tower were told to remain seated, to continue working.

But friends of mine who were inside the 2nd tower of  the World Trade Center that day… told me that when they saw that first plane hit… they didn’t care what their supervisors said… they were getting out of there.  And because many people had already began evacuating that second tower, as soon as they saw what had happened to the first tower… it for many meant the difference between life and death.

A few days ago while driving down to Atlanta, I happened to catch a news story on 1010 WINS …an all news radio network in New York City.  I had seen the picketers standing before various Verizon locations.  But I did not know what was going on.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023428/Verizon-worker-strike-Thousands-picket-line-east-coast.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/9/verizon-workers-hit-picket-lines-mass-va/

It seems that the contract for 45,000 Verizon workers had expired… meaning the Verzion worker’s contract is now up for renegotiation.  Playing hardball, Verizon withdrew their worker’s health plan when the workers went out on strike.  Verzion claim that they could no longer afford to pay for the worker’s health coverage because they were losing so much money with them being out on strike.

BALONEY.

Everybody who is doing any business with Verizon should cancel every service …or whatever have you with them.

What money is Verizon losing?

None.  In fact, with the workers out… they are saving money.  Because Verizon doesn’t have to pay them while they are out on strike.

But the problem we face today is this…    IT IS AN EMPLOYER’S MARKET.

Do you hear me?

Can you understand that?

It is like how they say it is a buyer’s market in terms of  real estate sales.  Because not many people are buying homes …and banks are not lending as much as they used to.  So, if you got money …and it doesn’t matter about what the seller is asking for …make them an offer.  They may just take it… you never know.  Because they are not getting many other offers these days.  And who knows… your’s might be their only offer.

And you see this clear across the board.   Car sales and other large ticket items… because there is less cash flow these days with so many people out of work.

And therein lays the Verizon workers dilemma.Verizon is having its way with the Verizon worker’s union because so many people are out of  work… and Verizon knows that it has the power to wheel and deal as it pleases because of the way the job market is today.

These companies have no employee loyalty.  In fact, most companies today could care less about their employees.  This is why most companies today do not even offer full-time employment anymore.  Who needs full-time employees when there are millions of people willing… able …and ready to accept part-time employment with no benefits, and wages that amount to little… but beats nothing.

There had been a time when America was sending top executives to China to learn techniques of how to create a happy and more productive working enviroment.  It would seem that those executives learned something much more valuable to them.  How to take an iron fist and hold it over the heads of your employees… and keep it there.  Forcing them to produce more for less… while compensating them little… and forcing them to smile while the company break their backs.

I dislike companies with the Verzion attitude.  My cell phone is a Sprint account… but my broadband was with Verizon.  I can’t tell you how happy I am that it is off … and has been so for some time now.  But I can’t see myself giving money to a company that will not do its employees right.

Though these companies may feel that they have the power… the truth of the matter is… no they don’t.  We do.  And our power can bring any company to its knees just as the Montgomery bus boycotts brought that city of Montgomery to its knees in the mid 1960’s, and gave way to the opening of the doors that gave us all the right to vote, sleep and eat … etc… etc… where we wanted to.  Today we get on the highway and travel anywhere we want… as African American people in America… eat where we want to eat… and book a hotel and sleep where we want to sleep.  But for years this was not the case at all.

I remember listening  to Shirley Caesar talking about that very subject on a television show that she was being interviewed on.  She said that back then when they travelled… talking about her days as a young singer travelling with Albertina Walker and the Caravan… back in latter 50’s through the 60’s.   She said-

“We had to sleep in our car.  Because back then they did not allow us (black folks) to stay in the hotels or the motels like they do today.  And we just couldn’t pull up anywhere and eat either.  Because it wasn’t allowed.  If we wanted food.  We had to go back around to the back the door and see if they would give  us some food.”

Thank God for powerful people… who knew that they possessed power.  Or we would still be sitting on the back of the bus today.

Union busting is not anything new.  One of the greatest examples of it is when Ronald Reagon decided to interfere in the air traffic controller strike, PATCO …in August 1981.  Reagon froze the air traffic controller’s $3.5 million strike fund in order to force the striking workers back to work… saying that they were in violation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifKX9EXSvrQ&feature=related

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/reagan.years/whitehouse/airtraffic.html

And if you remember any facts to this story… you will remember how  quickly many of the striking air traffic controllers were replaced.  While a the powers to be… then trained a bunch of  unprofessionals to replace to them.

And our air ways have never been the same.  They have found people sleeping and all kinds of crazy things.  And we will not discuss what took place on 9/11.

Because if the truth be told… that is still a mystery to me?

How is it that at least 3 airplanes took off from Logan Airport in Boston… and got so far off of their courses.  And nobody …not 1 person knew about it until very important buildings began to be flown into?

Something is wrong with that picture.  And for the life of me… how was it that the 2nd airplane was allowed to hit the 2nd tower of the World Trade Center?  This is even a bigger mystery to me?

Because before it did… every airplane and helicopter in New York City was up in the air that day soon after the 1st airplane had flown in the World Trade Center.  So then, how is it that nobody saw the 2nd airplane until after it hit the 2nd tower of the World Trade Center?

My niece woke me that morning with a phone call saying that an airplane had just flown into 1 of the towers of the World Trade Center.  And as she was still talking to me… some 20 minutes later the 2nd airplane flew into the 2nd tower of the World Trade Center.

How could that have happened?

After the 1st airplane into that air space…  clearly, a 2nd air craft entering into that same air space should never have happened.

First of all, the air space around the whole area of the World Trade Center  and Statue of Liberty was and is…a protected air space. Which means it was supposed to be under the protection of fighter jets anyhow. But notwithstanding the admission of the 1st air craft into that air space… clearly, a 2nd air craft entering into that same air space should have most definitely been shot down…and shot down long before coming in contact with the 2nd tower of  the World Trade Center.

But going back to the then President Reagon who decided that he needed to step in on the striking air traffic controllers… and teach them a lesson.  Reagon, of course, being the idol of ever Republican… the 1 that they most try to exemplify, and proclaim themselves to be the most like.  And I wonder if that was before or after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s?

But then of course… nobody knows exactly how long Reagon had actually been losing it.  Though I must say that most of the Republican Party seems to be fit candidates for an Alzheimer’s examination.  Because truly most of  them seem to be suffering from some sort of mental deficiency…  starting with but not limited to Palin.

Something has to be wrong …mentally with a bunch of people who claim that they love something and seek so vigilantly to destroy it.  And I am talking about America.

They claim that they love America.  Yet everything they have been doing lately… and I am talking … for years now… has been done to undermine America… if not to utterly destroy it.

One of the most disastrous things to happen to the United States of America was something called George W. Bush.  I understand how wars were used in past American History to re-jump start the economy.  But George who was supposedly an economy major from that great learning institution known as Yale University, in New Haven, CT.  George having gotten into hot water somehow either on his own… or via the un-wise thinking of some of his flunkies…they came up with a plan.  The plan was to go to war.  Start some wars and the economy will take off again… the money you spent will be forgotten… and forgiven…  and all will be well.

But there was a problem with the plan.  The work place had changed.

In years past America had plenty of factories and factory workers.  But by the time George stole his way into the White House all those jobs were gone.  Those factories had been closed… and years later turned into lovely condominiums.  And if  the companies still exists those jobs didn’t… robots had moved in and replaced the workers.

Do you remember when you used to read the Help Wanted Ads and saw a train of Bank Teller jobs being offered?

Look for that now.  You won’t find it.  Because many of those jobs no longer exist.  Bank tellers have been replaced by atm machines.

The same has happened to a position called ‘receptionist.’  When was the last time you heard that word?

It is voice mail… and automated voice activated systems now.  No more receptionist jobs almost anywhere today.

Most utility companies have closed down their offices which used to handle bill paying services.  They don’t do that any more.  Oh, no…   If you can’t send it in by mail… or go to a local payment center at your check cashing center  …or corner store… then for a charge call them and they will take your payment over the phone.

In 2008 Americans voted for a change.   While Republicans are quick to say that Obama did not… or has not delivered.

Yet  on the other hand Republicans will never say-

“And we  have done everything within our power  to ensure it.”

On every issue… and non-issue Republicans have done their best to block Obama from even trying to do anything to fix the mess.  A massive and highly expensive and burdensome mess… that George W. Bush… a Republican …whom I believe will never ever be forgotten… for the mess that he left us all in.  And when President Obama has managed to get something pass them… they … the Republicans attack it like a bunch of mad dogs.

Whoever said that Barack Obama was a magician?

Whoever said Obama was Merlin?

Or even had some kind of ‘black magic?’

In case you did think that let me be the first to just say-

“Are you for real?”

Magic is an illusion.  It is based upon trickery… cunning and deceit.  Thank goodness these are not traits that are found within our President Barack Obama.

President Barack Obama has never lied to us about ‘weapons of  mass destruction.’

He has never tried to pull the wool over our eyes… by blinding us with a bunch of codes that meant absolutely nothing… code RED…  code YELLOW…  (if you have no understanding of  this then you would have had to have lived in New York City following 9/11).

Obama has never tried to used 1 fear tactic to keep us up under our beds… or hid in our closets.

President Barack Obama is not the cause for why America is where America is today.   He had nothing at all do do with it.  He did not bring us here.  In fact, as quiet as it is kept… he is trying to fix this mess.   It is more than possible that he might aid in bringing us a long ways out of  this runt… if we all stop listening to lies.  Stop being deceived…  and turning every which way the winds blows.

It is Republican deceit and lies that have turned this country upside down… and not Barack Obama.

• Corporate greed and mis-handling of business was here long before Barack Obama walked into the White House
• Job losses many years before Obama
• National Debt was already there… but really began running away after George W. Bush stepped into the Presidential picture
• Problems on Wall Street with the stock market are not new… trace them back into the 1930’s

Several States now have had to fight against Republican Governors who lead people into believing that they were either the man or woman for the job… and would wholly work for them… the voters.  Telling them that they were a person with their interests in their mind and in heart… only for those voters to lament a vote that they ever casted in that person’s favor.  It ended up costing voters benefits… or their job… or a less powerful union etc.  Because that Republican political had an agenda.  And that agenda had nothing to do with the people’s minds… or hearts that they  con into believing in them with their claims of  ‘I want to serve you.’

The Republicans are so slimy they have created a 2nd Republican Party… the co-called Tea Party a group of real lunatics… formed by that lunatic queen Palin and few other crazies.  All of whom who have fallen out with one another… that is how firmly rooted they were.  Like a bunch of crabs in a barrel… all clamouring to be the top dog… and if they can’t then they pick up their marbles and go home.

They have all… whether they call themselves ‘Tea Party’ or not… they …the Republicans have all developed a seek and destroy attitude.  And that attitude did not just get started when President Barack Obama stepped into the White House… it is an attitude that they have long adapted to.

You need only to look at the 2000 Presidential Election between George W. Bush and John Kerry to see how demented the Republicans are.  They saw nothing wrong …NOTHING…in undermining the entire American practice of our right to vote… and to have ALL our votes counted.  And it was not something that they were not bold enough to do so all could see… and dared any of us to do anything about it.

So, don’t blame Obama.  This mess is not his.  But he decide to champion the cause… to try to set America back on the right course.  To raise Her from low depths She sank to under what no one can call ‘leadership’… but just say… George Bush brought Her to.

Don’t look for magic.  Look at it as it really is.  The world has changed.  And the work place and work force has changed with it.

Many jobs that people used to do… no longer exist.

Re-training people has it place… I guess.  But when they are re-trained where will they go?

Everyone is learning computers… but there are only but so many computer jobs.

The medical field is good.  In a field that had nothing but female mostly… had seen a great emergence of male.   Use to be you never saw a male nurse… but today hospitals are loaded with them.  Men are entering the nursing field in very large numbers.  And to think there was a time that such a thing… would have been seen as being sissy.

One thing is for sure… no matter what happens in this world… we all at some point or other need something medical.  As long as we are in these bodies the need for the medical profession cannot …or will ever be replaced.  But that is not to say that it too… will not evolve.  It has.

However, technology is forever changing things.  But even so there will still only be a need for but so many people to work in the medical field too… at any given time.

Radio stations have changed… television stations have changed.   Most newspaper companies have gone out of business… because few people read newspapers any more.  They get their news now over the internet… on their ipads… and cells.   And if you haven’t noticed… most news companies have cut back drastically on their staff.

For 1 of my journalism classes, my professor… a great woman… had been booted out of her position as a staff writer for a local newspaper… a job she had had for many years.  That company’s lost was of course … my great gain.  Because she came with a wealth of knowledge, and understanding about the history and future of journalism… and media at large.

But if you have noticed over the internet all the news sources seem to buy their stories from 1 source.  You can read the exact same story… word for word from 1 internet source to another.  And if you are like me… you always have a need to want to know more… but they don’t have it to give.

And somewhere along the way… they grab ahold of this attitude:   THAT LESS IS MORE.

Yeah, right…  When I want to know less…or read less… I will just stop.  I don’t need anyone deciding for me… when I have had enough.

Which I guess is the main reason why so many people like my blog… www.bsmith101.wordpress.com.  For as you can tell… I do not believe in the ‘less is more’ concept.  Nor do I just regenerate news items.  What a waste that is.  If  I follow a story… I want to read something I haven’t already read… or at the very least …give me some more details …or info on whatever it is I’ve come to your website searching for.

But going back to my thought… the workplace has changed.  It is not what it was 20 years ago… or even 10 years ago.

Remember all those customer service jobs that used to be in the newspapers?

Roughly about 20 years ago customer service became such a big thing.  There were tons of  ad campaigns about the type of  service you could expect if you did business with such and such.  Companies trained their employees to  greet you in a special way, and to service you as quickly and efficiently as they could.

Today all of that is gone to the wind.  You can stand in a line for up to 10 or 20 minutes listening to someone… who is working the only open window… or check-out line… carry on a conversation with another employee or either with the person who had been right ahead of before they got to the cashier.

Have you experienced that?

You are at the top of the line… but suddenly the ‘ONLY’ open window has a highly talkative employee… or someone looking around as though they are trying to wonder why ‘their’ window or ‘their’ counter is the only 1 open?

So, what do they do?

They slow down… as if mentally they have taken a mental stand in their mind… to not kill themselves trying to serve all the people who waiting in line.

No body cares about customer service any more.  And so… gone are these jobs.

Switchboard operators are a thing of the past too.  A little company in your area that hired local people… mostly women to man the phone lines.  But then it was for mostly doctor’s offices.  Today those people can be anywhere in the world taking tons of calls for everything from subscriptions to publications, orders for books or other products, complaints, messages, prayer requests …you name it.  But small companies in your town probably do not offer this service any more because it has been farmed out around the world.

Most of the manufacturing companies long departed …going into Mexico and other countries where the labor was cheaper.

This country really does not have a great number of blue collar workers any more.  Most of  the automobile workers were replaced by robots… or companies that sent large divisions of their manufacturing into other countries as well.

So where are the jobs?

Where are the openings that are available …or will become available for all the displaced workers who are currently out of  work… and have been so now for years?

There are none.   And nobody can do anything to change that… because of computers coming into the marketplace.  They… computers brought about an unpresidented change to what was our workplace.

The only thing you can do is look for the next big wave in the future.  That will

More and more colleges are offering on-line courses.  Have you noticed that?

Some schools are over the internet only.

I am dropping hints here.   Personally, I hate on-line courses… and feel that they are a huge waste of  time.   If you are going to sit in isolation… with no classroom interaction… then you might as well just read the book and be done with it.

But if you were considering a teaching career.  Great… but you should also consider this fact.  That soon many of  those teaching jobs too will soon be gone.  Due to on-line classes and on-line classrooms… and schools… cities… colleges and universities looking to cut their budgets.   It is coming… and soon the classroom as we know it today will  be gone forever too… just like yesterdays work force.

And with it will be gone… tenure.  Tenures will bite the dust just like pension plans… and all other full-time employment;  and whatever else they can do away with for the sank of the bottom line.

Soon even common currency as we know it will be gone too.  They are already talking about stop minting the $1 bill.  Soon it will just be all plastic… be it a debit card …or credit card…. or something else.  But the coins will be gone …and the paper bills.

Bet all those folks working at the Mints all felt that their jobs were well secured.  We have all better start to think again.

Who ever thought there would be no more pension plans?

Or health care benefits on your job?

I didn’t.

You really have to be a visionary.  You have to look deep into the future.  You must go beyond your nose… if you truly want to have a chance in the future.  You have to look deep beyond what you see.  The future is what you cannot visually see… but something coming.

Many people now do not even go into the office any more.  They can do all their work from home.  They write their news articles at home… edit news copy at home… edit books at home… and mother-frames and inter-locking networks are big things in corporations now.

I do see computers… and our dependence upon them growing.

In New York City they have all most totally done away with ticket booth operators down in the subway system.  They too have been replaced by machines… which can dispense to you fare tickets.  And while in Boston not so long ago… I noticed that they were doing the same in their subway system.

The world is becoming a place of less working people… and more automated machines.  And unless you are prepared to service these machines… or program these machines… your work history will too soon come to an abrupt end.  And you will find yourself with a need to be re-trained… to nothing.

So, when George W. Bush thought that he could jump start the economy by creating a war… with the hope that the war would create jobs.  He and his people forgot something.  All those factories were gone… and so weren’t those jobs.  And even if  the jobs could be revived… robotics still had replaced the manpower that used to produce the goods.

So, the wars didn’t work.  But only sunk us deeper and deeper into debt as the years have dragged on.  But of course …the Republicans will never tell you any of  this.  Any more than Verizon will tell you that they were happy for any old excuse to rid themselves of paying their employee’s health benefits.

Irene hit the East Coast hard… and it seems that my cousin who informed me of the storm was right.  Sadly there were a few deaths.  But thank God He saw most of us through it safely.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44304431/ns/weather/t/irene-weakens-packs-punch-it-slams-coney-island/?GT1=43001

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44304431/ns/weather/t/irene-weakens-packs-punch-it-slams-coney-island/?GT1=43001

My cousins and friends in various places… including my brother had to deal of electrical outages.  But that is the least.  Many suffered damages due to flooding and/or falling trees.

The good news is Irene wasn’t as bad as what had been expected.  To God be the glory.

The New York subway is up and running once again.  Though on our way back from Atlanta… I did notice where many of the over-passes in the New York area were being worked on.  And that was following the earthquake that hit us… before Irene came bouncing and blowing in.

Well, God bless…and enjoy the rest of  your week.  Amazingly we are at the end of August already.  Schools and colleges are already in.  I pray that all are safe and do well.

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2011

Add a comment August 28, 2011

THE TIMES…Pastor Zackery Tims and Nicholas Ashford… gone…

First Zackery Tims …and now Nicholas Ashford.

Oh, I know… I know that Nick was not known for writing and singing gospel music.  But no one can deny that he did come from a strong gospel background… that sometimes even managed to show up in his song writing and way of singing.

And what songs they were.  He was gifted… and what he didn’t have …his partner and later to become his wife… Valerie Simpson had.  Together they wrote some of Motow’s best known music.  Songs like ‘Ain’t No Moutain High Enough,’ ‘It Takes Two,’ ‘Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand’ ….just to name a few.  And I do mean just a few… because their list does indeed truly go on and on.

For a while Val and Nick could be caught holding down the evening drive-time radio slot at WBLS,in New York City.  In fact, 1 afternoon I decided to drop by BLS with the hope of getting in to see Vinny Brown, an old friend and co-worker who at the time was the Program Director for the station.  While waiting …to my unexpected surprise as I happened to look up… standing before me were 2 people I would have had to be totally blind to not to have recognized from the very moment my eyes came up on them.

“Val and Nick,” I heard myself say… as my head jerked back slightly in surprise.

It just kind of eased out of my mouth… I hadn’t realized they were handling BLS’s on-air  drive-time shift at that time.  So, I was really surprised to look up and see them, standing right there before me… close enough for me to just reach out and touch them.  Nick slightly smiled at me… while Val kind of looked off.

From the time I hit college Nick and Valerie had been busy in recording studios.  So, I had looked at and played  just about every album of their’s.  Definitely a sign of the time… because most of the kids don’t even know what an album was …or a 45 for that matter.  But yes …I had played Val and Nick for many years.  And it didn’t hurt for me to be a big fan either… which meant as often as I could I would sneak them in on my music lists rotations.

As the years went on I didn’t have to continue to ease… I just played them… back to back …or however I wanted.  Them and Phyllis Hyman… Donnie and Roberta… Friends of Distiction… Dells… Roy Ayres… George Duke… and whoever else I wanted to program.  Including Motown’s Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye… and just so much good music…  The kids don’t even have a clue… they have nothing like it today.

Nobody writes good music any more…  they don’t even know what it is to have anything called ‘good lyrics.’  They… the kids are too busy buying beats.  A lot of which are stolen from times gone… times that music like that during which Val and Nick came from …and wrote during.

Though they …Val and Nick had long since turned their attention to other things …such as going into the restaurant business… New York’s Sugarbar and I forget what their first restaurant was called …it had been on 22nd Street also in Manhattan.

And whenever traveling home on I-95… as I passed Stamford, CT… my mind would always run across them, as I knew that for a while at least they had made their home in Connecticut.

Having their number I called them once while seeking investors for 1 of my feature film projects.  Though I failed to reach them initially… you will never know to my surprise… how thrill I was to receive a call back from them concerning the message that I had left.  Val told me that they were just getting ready to open up another restaurant… which was to become the Sugarbar.  So, they couldn’t afford to do it at the time.  She appologized and told me maybe the next time.

I hung up not at all feeling let down.  All I could think was… wasn’t that nice for them to take the time to call me back?

This is my all time favorite song by Valerie Simpson and Nicholas Ashford.

While living in Chicago… Millie J… used to visit a friend of mine by the name of

Jean… who was Tyrone Davis’ sister.  Millie had come to town to perform and while talking with Jean… I overheard her say-

“While I was coming through the airport guess who I came across?  These two people walking around holding hands.  I didn’t even have to look twice.  I knew right off it was nobody but Nick and Val.”

They had that something special… kind of like what Michelle and Obama have.  A total appreciation for each other… and a desire to always be in touch with one another… as though they cannot do or bear to be without each other.

Just a few seconds ago, a friend of mine informed me that Nick had dealt with sustance abuse.  Never knew that …or ever heard that.  So, I don’t know for sure.  I have not seen him or Val for years now.  But I know their music anywhere or anyhow I hear it.

Personally, I cannot imagine Val without Nick.  She loved him… and held on to him.  And he loved her… and held onto her.   And together they held on to each other …a profoundly good example of 2 people who truly walked in love with one another.  I certainly pray her strenght in the Lord… and that of their children and other family members.

I had heard his testimony.  And what an awesome testimony he had had regarding how God had saved and pulled  him out of a messed up life of drug addiction… and having come from a home where nobody knew the Lord.   How God had put someone in his path that gave him an invitation… and 1 day for whatever reason Zackery Tims, some 8 or  so years ago… called a man on his job who had invited him to come and go to church with him.  And that night he got saved… and his life was forever changed.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20092873-504083.html

A megachurch Pastor having a congregation of more than 4,000 members in the Orlando, FL area… on this past Wednesday, Pastor Zackery Tims was found dead on the floor of his Time Square hotel room.  The first information said… heart attack.  But later information started circulating… that a white powder sustance… cocaine had been found on him.

I had long ago stopped watching him … or some reason or other.  I cannot remember why… but it always seems to me that as you watch some of these television evangelists… you like them in the beginning, but then they begin to shift.  And everything about them and what they are preaching changes.

I cannot say that about Pastor Tims… because I cannot remember what prompted me to stop watching his program. And it might not have had been anything with him… but a time conflict between the show schedule and my schedule.

His eyes lately were watery or shiney… glossy I guess you could say… whenever I would happen to catch the tailend or some part of his show.  And I am not just saying that because I am hoping that after the autopsy is finally released… it will show any drugs in his system.  Because I am not… if anything quite the opposite.

I would hate to think that he would have been drawn back… into something that he was blessed enough to have been released from.   But when you think back to the events that lead to his divorce… you have to think…    Well, maybe.

He was involved with a stripper for a year… that is what the article read.  But if it read a year… then it is possible that it was for a longer time than that.  While he was engaging in adultry with her… it is very likely that he was also indulging in other things too.  And while that relationship may have ended… and who really knows…  But if  he was drinking or indulging in drugs as well… it is not so likely that he also just stopped abusing either.  And do note I said ‘if’… because I don’t  know.

I didn’t know him… or much about him except what most of you who also watched the Word Network knew about him.  But I was watching the day he leaped upon the top of his pulpit  podium to dramatize something he was preaching.  I did think that  was very odd… and all I could think was-

“That is suppose to be holy.  How could he jump up on it?”

But it would seem that not much is still considered to be holy any more in church.  I see preachers with baseball caps and hats on in the pulpit… and sweat suits and sneakers.  Anything it seems  goes today… whatever… however…  whenever.   My, Lord…

Whatever happened to reverencing the house …and the things of the Lord?

UPDATE: SUNDAY, January 15, 2012…As of New Years Eve this year Pastor Paula White has been chosen the Board of Regents of New Destiny Christian Center.  And it would seem that since the autopsy done on the body of  Pastor Tims was never released to the public…that drugs had indeed been found in the blood system of the late Pastor Zackary Tims.

With the announcement of  Paula White becoming the chosen replacement…  Well, it did not seem to sit right with Pastor Tims ex-wife.  Tims’ ex-wife claims that Tims’ and her children are being robbed of their inheritance.  You can read more on that by CLICKING the LINK below.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/riva-tims-paula-whites-appointment-process-was-illegal-and-deceptive-66161/

Since I am on the subject of Pastors… and since I did write a blog on it.  Let me just note here that I read somewhere… or heard it… that Bishop Eddie Long quietly settled his cases with the young men who had filed law suits against him, for supposedly taking sexual advantage of  them while they were under his religious leadership as young teenaged boys.

The settlement is said to have been $15 million total going out to the young men in question.

Perhaps it is a sign of the times… but I sincerely hope not.

Visiting with a niece and enjoying myself.   Can’t you tell?

I have so much time on my hands that I decided to take some of  it to write this blog.  I rarely have much time these days.  I am on assignment… and must pick up my pace.  I have to stay busy in the things of the Lord.   And at the end of the day… I just want to be ready when He comes.

And for as long as I can remember that has not changed.

I still love this picture… It is sooooo refreshing looking.

Speaking of which… while talking with a cousin this evening… she told me that they were buckling down for a bad storm that they… the insurance claims agents of the company she works for …are being prep for if  it should hit us this week on the east coast.

Better get out and pick up a few things for just in case.  And no need to wait until the last minute… do it now since you have gotten some advance info.

One other thing… while here.  My niece took me by Dr. Martin L. King’s house and the Center for Non-Violence.  Took a picture with a tour guide who informed me that every house on his street was bought by the Federal Government… and the only house on the street that is not owned by the Federal Government on that street is the King house… which is still owned by the King family.  But the house is open for tours …which are done on the half-hour. 

It was amazing watching the people… black and white touring the grounds of the King’s house and the Center for Non-Violence.  And it is all free… parking and everything without any hassles.

Mrs. Coretta Scott King was a very smart woman.  A woman who was determined that her husband’s death was not going to be in vain… or forgotten.  And I mean she did it… and she didn’t do it half-stepping either.

Well, God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2011

4 comments August 23, 2011