Posts tagged ‘death ‘
JAN CROACH DEAD of Trinity Broadcasting….THE IRONY OF IT ALL…
I must really be missing it… was asleep or somewhere. How is it that Jan Croach just died and I never heard anything about it until-
Until now when I happened to be on youtube looking something else up. And when I saw the title ‘Jan Croach Died,’ of a youtube video I thought it was somebody’s joke.
Not really sure if just someone was playing around… you know how 
they do on youtube. Then I decided to google it… and sure enough Jan Croach had really died just a few days ago, May 31, 2016, at 78 following a massive stroke.
Because I had not seen much of her on TBN lately… I just thought that Mat, or whatever the name 
of her son who now runs their TV networks… well, I had thought it was because Paul Croach, Jan’s husband who didn’t pass all that long ago himself… had left the TV networks to his son, and gave Jan her creation, The Holy Land 
Experience, down in Orlando, Florida.
I really can’t say that I really followed the Croach’s all that closely nor their channel, as they always seem to be doing those television money raising rallies… seeking donations most of the time. And at point I had read where Paul and Jan never spoke to each other EXCEPT when on television… and that they did not live 
together. Yet they portrayed themselves as a loving couple on their television broadcasts. 
There seems to be such an irony is all of this seeing how Paul and Jan really felt about each other… that not 
so long after he died she would follow him to the grave. Now, it all goes to the boys, their 2 sons… 
and grand-kids… whom do not seem to be any more in harmony than Paul and Jan during the many years of their marriage.
I had also read some years ago that the Croach’s had been under investigation for mismanagement of those donation funds that they claimed to be using for the good of the furthering the word of God. One of their grand daughters claimed that Paul had been going out and using the company charge card to pay for lavish dinners in exclusive places, and 
while charging fine and very expensive alcoholic drinks to their church network tabs too.
To say the least Jan with her Barbie make-over was far from being anyone I would have put my trust in as being a really godly person. There is no doubt that she had a real obsession with becoming Barbie, that Matel children’s doll. Jan apparently had no problem with destroying the temple that God had given her, to get breast implants, pink hair and all kinds of other plastic surgery done to her face and body. I would say that maybe that could be a bit ‘carnal,’ 
wouldn’t you?
And to waste all that money doing it… when it could have gone to some kind of good in the world instead of a plastic surgeon.
I mean… who in their right mind really wants to look like 
Barbie?
Don’t answer that… because I think that was the look Lil’ Kim was also going for before she just plain decided to become some kind of white girl. How truly sad compared to what she used to look like. Talk about self-hate.
And the amazing part about that was that Jan could not see it just how foolish she looked.
When the devil has your mind… he ‘really’ has your mind. And he definitely evidently ‘really’ had Jan’s mind in order for her to believe she looked like anything other than a fool with all that pink hair setting on top of her head. 
I am not trying to be hurl or vicious. Heaven forbid. Afterall, the woman is dead… and only died just a few days ago. But what about having messed up face and head with that hair made her feel glorious 
is a wonder to me.
Jan’s father was a pastor under the Assemblies of God, a denomination which grew out of the 
Church of God in Christ. And there was not much that the Croach’s did not learn while under the tutelage and mentor ship of Jim and Tammy Faye 
Bakker, who had their own theme park too, and had been well vested in daily television broadcasting… which the Croach’s took to another level… even down to Tammy Faye’s make-up.
Kind of ironic how Jan and Paul really got their start and was introduced to the production of television broadcasting through working for Jim and Tammy… and that 
Tammy Faye had to go and seek Jan and Paul out once the floor fell 
out from under the Jim Bakker ministries, with Jim ending up having to serve prison time from mismanaging church donations sent his ministry.
I doubt very much that we will see TBN fold and go under… or be sold off as that family is making far too 
much money from that network… no matter what inner turmoils their families or relationships may have to cast it all to the wind.
To God be the glory… and bless you, hope all is going well for you as we go into this weekend. The weather here is very nice… no cold weather in a few days now. So, maybe… just maybe we are finally transitioning into summer…
http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2016/may/tbn-co-founder-jan-crouch-dies-at-78 
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 ©2016
Add a comment June 18, 2016
BLACK FOLK AND PLASTIC SURGERY…. ATLANTA PLASTIC….
I see where soon a new reality show is going to start called ‘ATLANTA PLASTIC.’
Truthfully speaking I fail to see why black folk are starting to jump on this band wagon?
I think we watch far too much TV and salivate far too much over all these so-called stars on these reality shows, who now seem to be creating a new standard as to what black folk should look like… by spending big bucks to go up some plastic surgeon to supposedly make them look like whatever they envision in their heads what they want to look like… down to skin color and everything else.
From NeNe Leakes on down it is far too much. I happened to catch her just the other day on 1 of those networks where people sell their 
wares… and her hips were far too out there. And I think she added lips, had her nose fixed, put in more boobs etc… etc… etc…
Why would I want to do that to myself?
First of all you have to consider that your body is in a consistent state of transitioning. Your body never stands still. Your face does not look the same as it did when you were ‘say’ 5 years old. Your nose changed… eyes changed… your lips may have become fuller or more drawn out… but it is not the same and won’t be same when you hit 70… if you happened to be blessed enough to see 70 or 
80. Because we are continuously changing in terms of our shapes and sizes …and looks and even our heights. Our body does not stand still and nor does our faces or our boobs …or the lack thereof.
My son and his friends love Tamar Braxton… but what is real about her face. She looks fake… and I think she added boobs and the works too.
Then there is Wendy who wants everybody to believe she just developed naturally into what she looks like today… but if you could only see what she looked like in college.
So, you guys look at this stuff now and say, “Oh, wow…”
There is so much of it now. And it is all over the place… and more and more black folk are beginning to lend towards it.
But I wish I could put up on my Facebook page of a picture of the woman who used to be a beautician who decided she was going to get some work done to her body. It left her paralyzed and unable to work …or to do much of anything else and looking like a disaster. That’s her is this picture here.
I never really liked what I looked like either… but then who really does as we are growing up?
But now when I see me in a mirror I have to marvel… because I am not half bad and certainly not as bad as I thought I had been. But I have evolved …and I am yet evolving. And so are you.
But I have never been into ‘self-hate’ and that is what I think of people who go out and destroy themselves believing they can create through the help of a plastic surgeon a ‘better them.’
There was a time when we used to scoff at people who went out to see plastic surgeons to have 
work done to themselves. We laughed at people like Michael Jackson for bleaching their skin… changing their noses … or Janet having a rib removed. But now black folks are running out like crazy and spending tons of money …on these wacko doctors or so-called doctors… better known as plastic 
surgeon to get all kinds of work done to themselves from belly tucks, cheekbones added, lipsuction, noses done, jawbones adjusted… etc… etc… Michael even had a clef added to his chin.
And now this… ATLANTA PLASTIC.
smh….(for those of you who didn’t understand ‘smh’ … I’m shaking my head)
All the wrong things are glorified in our culture today. Just look at the mess that many people are in with all that tattooing. So many of them have gone so overboard with it they look like Satan worshipers.
.. which many may well be.
The same thing could be said about piercing… not just your ears but everything else and in between.
It is really far too too too too much.
And here comes ‘ATLANTA PLASTIC’ to put the final nails to the coffin.
The purpose of this show is merely to glorify an already very growing trend among black folk today. And it is not just in the 
secular world but also in the gospel and Christian world as well. Pastors, gospel singers, evangelist etc… etc… etc.. are all indulging in fixing something about themselves from lightening their complexions to reconstructing their faces. That Paula White you can’t even remember what she used to look like… but it sure wasn’t what she looks like today. Juanita Bynum is another 1 who has had
tremendous work done on her face. Bishop Paul Morton’s wife lightened her skin and did some other things to her face like fixed her nose. That T. L. Penny …lighten herself, added boobs and did some 
other things too. Kirk Franklin is said to have had some work done on his face. And the list goes on and on and on and on…
And this show coming onto TV is going to push those numbers even further… and that is exactly what it has been produced to do… to create a desire in highly 
impressionable viewers to rush out and get some plastic surgery done on themselves too. And hopefully… I guess the show wants them to be willing enough to make trips down to Atlanta to get it done. So, look out for them to be pushing the doctors and exactly what they are supposedly experts at doing.
But I would say don’t fall for it. There are things in life we are just made to endure… and becoming a mother causes some leftover tell-tell factors on our bodies… but does that mean we should seeking to bring our bodies back to what it may have been and looked like before that 4th child?
I think not.
Recently I saw Salt and Pepa on an interview and I was shocked to see that Pepa… whom I always thought was beautiful… and ‘I 
LOVE 
PEP.’ But I saw that she too had gone up under some surgeon’s knife. I won’t say what I thought of the after effects because I have always liked Pepa… she’s a very nice person but I really wish she had not gone to see any surgeon regarding her face… even with age she had to look better than what that surgeon left her.
Not really a big reality TV fan… or much of a television watcher anyway… I have no real idea of what Tamar
used to look like but I can see that down to their mother they have all gone under the knife… including Toni.
I wouldn’t play with my face or body like that. There are far too many disaster stories out there for me to consider going up under some plastic surgeon’s knife 
to cut or change anything about me artificially. And I am a believer ‘if you are not sick… stay away from doctors… because they will make you sick if you don’t.’
And when it goes wrong… it goes wrong. And there is no way to correct it after you and they… those plastic surgeons have messed you and your body up.
Talking about reality shows… since the 2nd episode of ‘PREACH’ I have yet to see any more episodes. Did I just happen to miss them or was that show dropped following the first 2 screenings of it on TV?
Well, God bless…. it Friday and I haven’t really been all that busy this week, but I am now beginning to get back into the throws of things. And it feels good.
I bought myself a blender off of 1 of those shopping networks. So, I am shifting my eating habits a bit. When I get out of here I’m going to go buy me some more bananas… or sometime this weekend. I got a couple of whole pineapples and a can of peaches I’ve been looking forward to mixing 
up with some crushed ice… which my blender is quite capable of doing just fine. And I am going to kick up my heels and enjoy the weekend… and I sincerely hope you do the same.
But I do not want to get out of here without making mention of Sandra Bland or Sam Du Bose… 2 very sad situations in the unnecessary deaths of yet 2 more black folk. Of which I am highly sadden by… and question… and pray comfort and justice to their families… though nothing can give them back what they have lost and that is their love ones senselessly…
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 ©2015
Add a comment July 31, 2015
MASSACRE IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA… an issue of RACISM or TERRORISM…
It would be hard to not write anything about what happened Wednesday night at a what would have
Worshippers gather to pray in a hotel parking lot across the street from the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
normally been a quite little Church Bible study session. But it was anything but quite… and the 
consequences were high.
Upon first reading about this story in a posting on Facebook by 1 of my cousins… I, of course, like her was immediately touched by it.
In the wake of so many police abuse and mis-killings of black folk… and now this???
When I saw a picture of the boy… or young man if you like… I could not help but feel sorry for him. Just 21 years young and his life is over. And I knew that the energizing force within him… hatred… had been 
breast fed him since he was a baby.
You do not grow up feeling anger and hatred towards a whole group of people… because they are different from you… EXCEPT it is something you have been fed with all of your life. And then for his 20th or 21st birthday his father bought him a gun and put it in that boy’s hand… baiting him to do what he did on Wednesday night. It was a set-up… a set-up to fail… to be subdued or killed because he had been bred to be a mad-dog killer.
How does anyone do that to their child?
How do you teach your child to hate a certain group of people so much that you… his parent’s destroy HIS life. You created him to be a killer… and kill he did. And now one way or another he will be killed.
But you parent’s don’t blame it upon the victims he so viciously slayed in cold blood… or try to put it on a teacher or a school system… or even upon this country… because that is what seems to have been the problem. You taught him to blame everybody else.
What a shame.
What a horrific tragedy and profound lost of good decent hardworking people… who appear to have only showed him kindness. And with open arms allowed him to partake in their Bible study… while he sat there studying them… plotting how he was going to kill them and who he would take out first.
Was it an act of ‘terrorism’ or was it out and out ‘racism’ that 
motivated such an inhumane act?
Oh, I understand how the Klu Klux Klan tried to terrorize black folk. I understood the 
sheets over their heads… trying to play like they were ghost. I even understand the burning of crosses upon the land of black folks… trying to pretend that they were doing some kind of holy work. But it was all done in the name of ‘racism.’ And that is exactly what the out and out murder of 9 black folk who had never met him before… never talked to him before… had never seen him before was all about. He murdered them…
- Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41, was the church’s pastor and a South Carolina state
senator. - Depayne Middleton Doctor, 49, sang in the church choir, the Charleston newspaper reported.
- Ethel Lance, 70, worked for 30 years at the church, a relative told the Post and Courier.
- Susie Jackson, 87, a longtime church member, was Lance’s cousin, the newspaper reported.
- Cynthia Hurd, 54, was branch manager of the St. Andrews Regional Library, just a few miles from the church where she was killed.
- Tywanza Sanders, 26, was a 2014 graduate of Charleston’s Allen University.
- Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45, was a church pastor and high school track and field coach, according to the Post and Courier.
- Myra Thompson, 59, was an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
- Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74, who died at a hospital, was a retired pastor from another Charleston church.
…9 innocent people whose only crime according to Dylann Roof, the young 21 year old murder… was that they were black. Guilty of rapping and 
murdering people… taking jobs from white folks… and no good to society etc. etc. etc. all those things that backward thinking white parents teach their children when they teach them how to hate other people… just for being…..
Truly sad…
Well, God bless…. I pray for every family and for all mankind.
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 ©2015
Add a comment June 19, 2015
ZIMMERMAN TRIAL ONE BIG FARCE…
If it had been a Saturday Night Live skit from beginning to end then maybe it might have been funny. Except for the fact that someone’s life was grievously taken this whole thing was 
anything but a joke.
I really do believe that the prosecution… the DA office… should first of all be investigated. Because this trial was one of the biggest disasters since Ojay Simpson. From the picking of the jurors to that supposed medical autopsy doctor something was seriously wrong.
Why in the first place were 6 women chosen for the jury, 
and primarily, if not all of them, white?
One could hardly call that a group of George Zimmerman’s peers. None of them appeared to me to look in anyway like George Zimmerman’s true peers… whom I would believe to be men about his age, of similar backgrounds etc.. etc.. And on what merits were those women chosen?
Based upon things said by Juror #37 once it was all over… if she can be believed… they all went into the jury pool already with their minds made up before they were even chosen to be 
jurors. And some like Juror #37 … I have no doubt also had hidden agendas like coming out with their own book deals and television interviews.
So, just how did such people make the cut and end up in that jury box?
Why would anybody question supposed jurors saying… ‘Knock knock, whose there?’
What kind of jury selection did that of retarded examination of possible jurors bring about?
Maybe the prosecution was just trying to determine who was brain dead from who wasn’t. And he chose the brain dead.
When you truly look at this case you have to ask yourself was the prosecution for Trayvon Martin’s family… or was the DA office working against them?
When doctor KooKoo… don’t know his name and I am not going to try to find out. But when
that man took the stand… now the whole thing really went into the Twight Light Zone.
Was this man really a doctor?
Had he not ever been prepared by the prosecution office for this hearing before hand?
Did he really know anything about doing or handling an autopsy?
To all these questions the answers appears to be a resounding ‘NO.’
From the moment that autopsy doctor opened his mouth the lawyers supposedly representing Trayvon Martin, the victim in this case, should have entered ‘OBJECTION’ after objection. Through this whole trial Perry Mason and Matlock were probably rolling over in their graves… and they weren’t even real lawyers. But I sure could hear some ‘objections‘ needed to be stated.
For 1 thing, the autopsy doctor referred to having conferred with another doctor regarding marijuana. Objection!
Since the other doctor was not there to substantiate that conversation… testimony of such should have been objected to.
Two, that autopsy doctor came to court with some notes which he stated he had prepared the night before. Objection!
Here was a guy who clearly stated that he could not remember the facts of his autopsy. Then why should notes written by him some… what 12 or so months later be allowed in as part of his testimony?
If he could not remember any facts on that autopsy, then clearly any notes written mostly recently would be moot and should have been of no apparent good in this case. Because they would be based upon his present memory or recollections as opposed to when he actually performed the autopsy.
Thirdly, the autopsy doctor was confrontational… and I don’t know how long he had been in this country… but he kept 
acting like he didn’t understand English. So, then how good was a testimony of anyone like that… who might not be really sure about what he was saying?
One has to wonder whether or not the autopsy doctor was paid off?
And if he worked in my department… after that performance on the witness stand… whether he was either performing to be highly incompetent or really is highly incompetent… I would have sent him packing. FIRED!
That guy was definitely highly unprofessional. And I cannot help but wonder if it was not just an act on his part.
Nextly, one really has to wonder….
‘WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THE PROSECUTION CALL this woman to testify?
Did they not go over her testimony with her?
Did they not know what questions to avoid… like ‘what did he say about the man watching him?’ Her response…. ‘He called him a creepy ass cracker.’
WHAT????
Could that testimony not be any more damaging to this case?
She had to have say that to the prosecution before they even put her on the stand. So, they knew it would be damaging to Trayvon, for the jurors to hear that.
It appears that the prosecutors in this case purposely set about to sabotage it. Not once… not twice …but time and time again.
There are various other parts of this case which just do not add up. Such as why the 
prosecution did not push further with all those witnesses on Zimmerman’s side which claimed it was ‘Georggie’s voice‘ that they recognized as the person screaming.
We live in a time of vast technological equipment. Equipment that is able to do voice recognition… voice separation… voice isolation… voice tracking… voice this and voice that… Including removal of any additional sounds outside of what you are focusing on. They have equipment that can do just about anything you want it to do… including voice distortion and correction.
So, then why was no technical equipment used in this case to determine who the possible screamer really was?
Equipment could have been rolled into that court and that recording played over and over for those witnesses… recordings mixed with fake voices screaming to see if they could determine the real recording or the fake. Experts in sound and voice could have been called in to testify… but they were not. Nor was any equipment used to decipher whose voice it really was that had been screaming.
I listened to the 911 calls with the screams in the background… and coming from years in radio I have a very good ear. And those screams did not come from a 27 or 28 year old man. Nor was the voice non-African American. And on top of all of that… just ask yourself who screams for help when they have a gun in their 
hand?
Remember, now… that there was no evidence that Trayvon’s hand was ever on Zimmerman’s gun. There was no 
evidence in fact that Trayvon ever even touched Zimmerman. The forensic people found no traces of Zimmerman’s DNA under Trayvon’s nails… nor any bruises on his hands or knuckles.
The other issue in this case was the fact that there was so much 911 evidence in this case was against George Zimmerman. On 1 recording of a 911 operator, she clearly asked Zimmerman ‘are you following him?‘
To which Zimmerman answered ‘yes.’
That operator told Zimmerman to stop following Trayvon and to get back into his car. Which George Zimmerman certainly from the outcome in the death of Trayvon… totally ignored.
Also, based upon the merits of that 911 recording alone Zimmerman was clearly stalking Trayvon. Therefore, Zimmerman was the predator… a man with a gun who approached an unarmed young person, who later was found shot to death by him. One bullet straight into his heart.
I have no doubt that George Zimmerman perpetrated a hate crime against Trayvon Martin. And that his call to 911 was a systematic attempt on George Zimmerman’s part to build a scenario for that 911 operator, for circumstances that he would later claim provoked him into the killing of Trayvon Martin. An act which I believe came across Zimmerman’s sick mind probably from the moment his eyes fell upon the young black teenage, Trayvon Martin, walking in the darkness of night… in the rain on his way home from the corner store.
The statements that Zimmerman made in his 911 call clearly show a concise and calculated mind working, at setting up a painted picture of the young black teenage male, whom he was following claiming that he ‘looked like’ a criminal and ‘was out to do’ something illegal. While on the contrary, Trayvon Martin was just a kid who happened to be on his way home from a local corner store. And it was Zimmerman who was the 1 working with a criminal mind… and a blind intent to kill a young innocent boy.
There are many people who believe that George Zimmerman was protecting 
himself… standing his ground, if you will. As Florida has a law called ‘Stand Your Ground.’ Meaning you have a right to protect yourself if you feel that your life is threatened.
Zimmerman had taken self-defense classes, was carrying an armed weapon, and he had aspiration of being a cop and/or lawyer like his dad, who just so happened to be a judge. Trayvon Martin had not taken any martial arts classes, and was only carrying a small bag of candy and a can of ice tea. Based upon that… who do you really think was more lethal?
I sincerely hope the Federal Government steps into 
this case, because the ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law is a very dangerous piece of law. It reminds me of the ol’ south when white men would purposely go out seeking to start trouble with a black man or woman. So, they would step in front of them or do something to elicit some type of response from the victim, via their coercion of them. Whereby many black men and women were either killed, endangered, terrorized, houses burnt down, lost their businesses, and/or chased out of town etc…
Such laws as Stand Your Ground were and are not meant to protect all people… just certain people. And this case 
involving the brutal murder of Trayvon Martin is a clear indication of that.
What right more or is necessary …or does this law of ‘Stand Your Ground’ give to anyone, that has or is not given already by the Declaration of Independence in this country?
The Declaration of Independence states ‘all men’… not some have more rights than others. It states that all men are created equal… with certain unalienable rights. And it begins by saying… We hold these truths to be self-evident. It then goes on to say…. that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Unalienable rights… what are those?
They are God given rights.
The right to defend ourselves is a right given to each and everyone of us. Whereas, such laws as ‘Stand Your Ground’ are intended and are only applied for certain people… and not for others.
Back in the days… lets go to the days after slavery when supposedly the slaves had been freed. Yet, they were not allowed to look white people directly in the eyes. And often were taunted into some type of reaction for which they may have been killed… whipped… spat upon… mocked etc…
One could hardly say that they… those black folk then did not have a right to respond to such actions to provoke them. 
But based upon certain imposed or otherwise implied or ‘understood’ laws, mostly in the old south… laws not written but understood based upon you… meaning black folk… knowing ‘our so-called place.’
Did not Trayvon Martin have a right to go to the store, and a reasonable right then be able to return home safely without some mad man shooting him down killing him for no apparent reason… other than his skin color?
Where were the rights of Trayvon Martin ever addressed in this case of the City of Sanford vs. 
George Zimmerman?
If indeed, Trayvon had been straddling Zimmerman in a fist fight.
Did not Trayvon Martin have the God given right given to him by nature, if no other law could protect him… than the law of self-preservation?
Why should Travyon Martin then have been demonized for trying to protect himself against someone whom he perceived to be a perpetrator who was out to kill him… when Zimmerman walked upon him and shoved that gun up in his face?
There was not 1 point or place where you can truly say that the prosecution truly tried to win this case. They did a lousy job of picking jurists. They failed to object to various infractions and irregularities as they appeared in this case. And they never seemed committed to win at all.
71-year-old black man found guilty of manslaughter, jury rejects 'Stand Your Ground' claim
If the truth be told this case never should have been held in Sanford, FL… but in some other 
county if not state. The authority and connections of Zimmerman’s judge father made this case an impossible case to get a fair trial in such a small little town… with so much at stake, and so many hands easily washed.
This is 1 of those rare times that I must say I disagree with Bill… That is Bill Crosby. Bill says you can’t prove that Zimmerman is a racist. Yes, that might well be somewhat true. But you can’t prove that he isn’t a racist either. Ooooh, wait a minute…
Wasn’t it Zimmerman who did all that racial profiling of Trayvon Martin in his 911 call, before he actually shot him to death?
That alone gave you a keen insight as to what or how George Zimmerman felt about young black males. And his actions 
spoke the rest.
Anyone who would have racially profile someone as in-dept as George Zimmerman painted that picture in his 911 call, of what Trayvon Martin looked like, his demeanor… his supposed behavior… etc. cannot be considered anything less than a racist. And there is no way of 
getting around that.
Zimmerman said that the person he was ‘following’ was someone who looked like he was up to no good… that it appeared as though he’s on drugs or something… he’s black or Hispanic… he has his hands on his waistband (meaning like he was packing a gun). And then Zimmerman said… ‘these @#!# they always get away.’
THAT’S NOT RACIAL PROFILING?
http://misterbillohno.newsvine.com/_news/2013/07/10/19392176-transcript-of-george-zimmerman-911-call
http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-trayvon-martin-zimmerman-verdict-2013-7
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/north_america/jan-june13/zimmerman_06-24.html
In the CNN story below the person being interviewed states that the Trayvon Martin case was
not a case of racial profiling, because racial profiling can only take place when someone is involved in law enforcement. I am a dissenting voice to this theory and statement with regard 
to this case. Because that definition can be extended to include anyone ‘believing’ he is a law enforcement officer. There is no secret about George Zimmerman and history of fantasying becoming a cop.
A psychologist should have been brought into this case who could have clearly said that George Zimmerman portrayed certain traits, habits, and forms of behavior and language that indicated he felt he was operating as a cop. When taken into perspective even George’s scio-background, family history, and his history of prepping himself and taking up martial arts etc. all unquestionably show Zimmerman 
to be a man possessed with a deep rooted desire to be cop, or someone involved in some matter in law enforcement. Hence, his position as ‘CAPTAIN’ of the neighborhood watch.
It is quite clear that George Zimmerman wanted to be a police officer. When that avenue did not open up to him… he then tried to study law. And that failed too.
So, the next step was to join the neighborhood watch. It is not hard to draw a correlation between that and George actually being a cop on the beat. George 
Zimmerman was clearly and unequivocally a wanna-be-cop, and all his actions and language on the night, in which he confronted Trayvon Martin, attest to it. And this is not a large leap or even a very short hop to get to.
The other thing about Zimmerman… he obviously suffers from a feeling of wanting to be a hero. He appears to be the kind of person you read about who goes to work in a hospital…and awaits an opportunity to unplug somebody’s life support machine… then quickly plug it back in just in the brink of time, then claim that he saved that person’s life. When in reality he was the person who had thrown the person’s life into jeopardy in the first place.
It is not hard to see that Zimmerman was… or is… a loser. Perhaps even a black sheep in a family, of 
what seems to be full of people who are professionally involved in law enforcement in varying capacities. But everything and time that George tried to do in order to get in… it would appear that he just could not make the cut.
I had a dispute with a friend over George’s 
weight. Because at 1 point there arose this question of Zimmerman’s weight as opposed to the weight of Trayvon Martin. Which of course should have also been a key point in this case.
When Zimmerman finally turned himself in… some 45 days after the killing of 
Trayvon… it was apparent to me that Zimmerman had gone on some type of crash diet during those days. The issue was whether or not Zimmerman weighted considerably more than Trayvon Martin? Even in the picture of above of Zimmerman being lead into court … you can see that the suit he is wearing is a lot larger than he is. However, during the hearing walla… a much fuller fatter Zimmerman, and his clothes seem to fit him just fine. Meaning Zimmerman’s body mass between the time Zimmerman shot Trayvon and the time Zimmerman finally went to trial… shows Zimmerman at his true weight and mass, when the young teenager was shot to death. But, of course, 
Zimmerman’s side had good reason to want to dispel the fact that Zimmerman was much heavier in body weight to Trayvon. Hence, Zimmerman’s miraculous weight lose before turning himself into the police department in Sanford. Otherwise, that story made up by the Defense Attorneys of a helpless and fearful George Zimmerman at the hands of a Trayvon Martin just would not have played out. 
Nobody would have believed that.
So, George had to lose that weight. Which, of course, as you see in his court pictures that he totally gained back.
Then there is the camera footage of Zimmerman that night following the supposed fight that lead to the untimely demise of a young Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman’s head had no cuts or lacerations.
If the truth be told there were a lot of ‘so-called’ myths that the Zimmerman team wanted to 
dispel… and some they wanted to seriously promote.
Some myths about Zimmerman…
- 1. He always told the truth
- 2. His family was full of truth loving people
- 3. Zimmerman didn’t stalk Trayvon
- 4. Zimmerman was really in fear of his life
- 5. Zimmerman feared Trayvon was going to kill him
- 6. Zimmerman was a good law abiding citizen
- 7. Zimmerman had great reasons to believe his life was in danger
Some myths the Zimmerman team wanted to promote about Trayvon…
- 1. Trayvon was a wayward kid
- 2. Trayvon was a trouble maker
- 3. Trayvon was an addict
- 4. Trayvon was out looking for trouble
- 5. Trayvon was out to kill Zimmerman
- 6. Trayvon beat Zimmerman
- 7. Trayvon had a right to be killed
Let me stop right here. Who has ever seen anybody who fell to the ground hitting their head?
When did they get up with a cut or cuts?
I have hit the ground and have seen people bang their heads and they always ended up with a knot in their head. Big bump. The harder they fell the bigger the bump on their head. But never did I see a straight cut appear in anybody’s head, from someone falling to the ground and hitting their head.
Here again is a big problem that I had with the forensic evidence in this case. These are the kinds of things that real professions are called into Court to testify about. But this case had no real forensic people. No big wig specialist… like in the Ojay Simpson case.
Those cuts on the back of George 
Zimmerman’s head could have clearly been blown up and recognized as having not been done by some type of fall to the ground. And lugging all the concrete sidewalks in the world into court could not prove otherwise.
This case had so many missed opportunities on the part of the DA office… you really have to wonder if they ever intended to try this case to win it?
And that answer here again would have to be a resounding ‘NO.’
Clearly, Trayvon Martin’s case biggest opposition or problem were the very people who were supposed to be seeking justice for his murder.
I really do hope that Mr. President, Barack Obama, sends in the Feds to take on this case. Because Trayvon Martin truly deserves justice. He had done nothing for which his young life should have been stolen from him. And by his cries for help… he dearly did not wish to die… or deserved to.
Bill Cosby, Charles Barkley, Shari… whatever her name on 
the View, President Jimmy Carter… and many others who felt that this case and its verdict was just… definitely missed something. This was no ‘new thing.’ It is something that we as black folk in America have long had to deal with. Trials like this one are not new. And 
we have come to recognize them when we see them… and know them when we hear their verdicts.
All of this… the trial and the circumstances which brought about the trial are all historic. Even to the having of some black folk who want to say ‘Oh, it wasn’t racist.’ When it clearly was nothing but racist. Race had everything to do with Trayvon Martin being killed… and there is just no getting around it.
I was really hoping… as we always do… that the jury would do the right thing based upon the shear 
merits of this case… and also having full knowledge that Zimmerman was a liar. Also, being fully aware that it was Zimmerman not Trayvon who had been the provoker. But in looking back over the court pictures… where Zimmerman does an awful lot of smiling for a man, who should believe he might be found guilty, and have to spend the rest of his life in
prison. Too much smiling in fact…
So, now looking over these pictures and seeing this smiling Zimmerman, it appears to me now that Zimmerman knew how this case was going to go to end up right from the very start. That is really very unfortunate… money and power play a big factor in the outcome of a lot court outcomes. But I guess having a father with connections… goes a long way to assuring a favorable outcome.
I just finished watching a video of Geraldo Rivera talking about the Trayvon Martin case. It is funny how much people change over time. I thought Geraldo used to be a lot smarter. Based upon Geraldo’s take on this case, any one of us could have been shot dead and would have been alright. Based upon Geraldo’s assumption, if we look just like some black guys who were supposedly vandalizing that neighborhood then it is okay to kill you.
Now, how stupid is that… and ignorant?
I don’t know how long the myth that all black folks look alike has been going around in 
America… but it has. We know we don’t look alike… but to some people we all look like criminals …murders… crack fiends… and welfare fraud people etc…
Shame on Geraldo. He must be trying to get a new tv show or renew his contract. Some people will do and say anything… for a little money. He must need it real bad… And he sure looks old.
Guilty by looking like a criminal. Trayvon was dressed just like most teens dress, black or white… Hispanic or Asian etc… You see them all day long with hoodies everywhere… going to school… coming from school… riding 
skateboards… on bikes. When did wearing a hoodie mean you were a criminal?
And though I do not like the style… it is a style for the kids… shagging pants. A hoodie and shagging pants does not make anyone a criminal. Much less worthy of dying. And because somebody’s house or neighborhood is having problems does not mean you go out shooting anybody you think looks like the type who did it.
Where is the justice in that?
I pray justice and peace for the Martin family… and America.
I have to admit that on this topic Mike Tyson spoke saying something that I very much can agree upon… or with him on. When asked what he thought about this case… Mike said, “I don’t know any more than what I have seen on television. But I do know that kid should not have ended up dead.”
In happening to catch a segment of The View, they were discussing the trial and I have to say 
that I truly admire Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s stance on this, and her outrage is truly worthy of my mentioning. As a mother ever woman should be highly upset regarding the circumstances of this case, and the cruel, brutal and cold blooded murder of Trayvon Martin.
I did… but I have mostly done so on Facebook.
The other reason is I sprang my right foot. It has been a few weeks now. I had pain in it before… but not realizing it after I stepped into a hole and twisted my foot that I had done damage to it. Which while at a convention in Baltimore I had plenty of time in between limping around, and trying to stay off of it… I spent a lot my down time watching the case on TV. Because there wasn’t much else I could really as my foot was killing me.
My foot is still bothering me. I understand it takes about 16 weeks for a sprang foot to heal. 
So, I am trying to stay off of it as much as possible still.
And the other reason it took me so long to write this blog was, of course, the weather… ALL THIS HEAT.
It has been soooooooo hot and humid here. The humidity was almost unbearable. Every time I got up to do the slightest thing… sweat would be pouring down my face… my nose… my brows etc… I was showering up to 6 times per day. Because I cannot stand to be sweaty… even with an aching 
foot. Yeah, pain or no pain into the shower I went. But the weather has broken now. And I hope it stays this way.
I certainly hope you fared well… better than me in all this heat… and got done all you needed to do. Have a good rest of this week… and I will catch you again soon. I’ve got to go put my foot back up.
And again 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…
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 25, 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.
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://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.
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 fo
r 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
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 Go
d 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.
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
Who is to blame?
I rarely follow 1 blog right behind the other… but I just finished reading this as I hit the button and said ‘post’ to my last blog.
It is a story about a woman who killed herself and 3 of her children with her. Perhaps, you heard or read this story. I now recall hearing someone vaguely mentioned something about it last week while I was in the beauty salon getting my hair done for Easter.
So, I just finished reading the story to the situation…just CLICK the LINK ABOVE if you want to read it too… if you haven’t done so already.
Much effort in the story…the slant in the story is who is to blame.
Who is to BLAME??????
I am a firm believer that we all have to take responsibility for all our own actions. It is something I tried to teach my son and to all of my nieces and nephews. Because at the end of the day… we have no one to blame but ourselves for the course of our own lives. And many of the events that happen in it.
In the above story about this young woman who decided to take her own life 
and the lives of her children… just 3 of them by default. Because she had a 4th child but when she drove into the Hudson River…he being older (her eldest child)…I think the story stated that he was anywhere from 7 to 10 years old. But he somehow managed to swim a shore.
Supposedly, just prior to the woman driving into the Hudson River… she had just had an argument with her boyfriend. The man who happened to be the father of her last 3 children… to which she was not married.
The story states that the father… the man who was the father of the woman last 3 children was 25 years old. Which leads me to believe that the woman who committed the murder/suicide… was also somewhere in her early 20’s.
The story goes that she supposedly became distraught after the argument… jumped into her car after packing in her children… and headed for a ramp leading into the Hudson River.
Now, who is to blame?
It seems that many in the story blame the supposed father. They labeled him
as a cheater and other things.
Some I have no doubt blame it upon the times.
Some maybe blame it upon the hardship of just being a mother.
Others might say that she just became ‘overwhelmed.’
Then others might just say that she was just plain crazy.
Any and all of these might very well be true.
But I see it as a bigger picture which is why I am taking this time now… while I should be up and doing something else… to write on this issue.
And it is an issue.
Recently, 1 of my brothers started seeking treatment for diabetes. A couple of 
weeks ago he was in the hospital due to now dying kidneys. Upon him being released from the hospital he called me and asked me to come sit with him. So I have.
I have also started going with him to all his doctor’s appointments… and that has meant that every week since he came out of the hospital I have been sitting in some doctor’s office listening to them discuss my brother’s condition with him and me.
A couple of times my brother had me pull up to a liquor store telling me he 
was going in to cash a check. But the other day as we were on our way to the doctor I smelled the smell of alcohol upon him. So, I asked him about it and he told me that-
“Yeah, I take a couple of sips every now and then. Ain’t no big biggy.”
Here he is dizzy and hands shaking…and his kidneys on near collapse, and he is telling me that taking a drink of alcohol is ‘no biggy’ …not a big thing?
Who in the world does my brother think that he is kidding?
Perhaps, he is trying to fool himself.
But I asked the doctors-
“Is there anyway possible that he can be maintained right here at this level without him going on dialysis?”
And somewhat hesitantly the doctor kind of said yes. But only if my brother did 
what he was supposed to do.
But while at another doctor’s office when the doctor asked him about drug abuse… my brother informed him of something I was not aware of. He told the doctor he used to snort heroin. I just thought people shot that up… that is how native I am about drugs and alcohol.
But when the doctor asked my brother why he had done it… my brother told him because he had gotten with the wrong girl.
The doctor then commenced to tell me brother to not blame that on the girl. And that he… my brother had made the choice for himself to do it. That the girl had not forced him to do anything.
And the doctor told my brother that he needed to take the responsibility for the choices that ‘he’ …my brother had made.
Having said that I imagine that you can guess where I am going with this. But I
am lead to speak it anyhow.
In regards to the young woman who drove into the Hudson River killing herself and 3 of her children… who would you say is to blame?
Who would you blame for her chain of circumstances?
Who would you say put her in the situation where she found herself?
Did her environment have anything to do with it?
Was it a matter of up-bringing?
Who made the choice to lay down and bare all those children?
Would marriage have made a difference in this story?
Can anyone say that anyone does not know or believe that the act of engaging in sex was not given to us merely for pleasure… but for procreation?
A vast majority of women become pregnant usually after indulging once… the very first time. This was true for me as well. So, I know this for myself. But I elected not to continue.
I made my choices too.
Oh, I wasn’t against having children. I wanted as many as I could have. Truly, when I was a very young girl I made that decision 1 day. But I also made 
another decision… that I wanted to save myself for my husband. And I did up until the age of 25.
At that point I stepped into another lifestyle that greatly variated and deviated from the thoughts of me as that young school girl. But had I not… I still doubt that I would have laid down and allowed people to use me time and time again without any commitment… while yet aiding me into digging myself into a deeper hole.
Because truly 1 could say that the young man in this story…the supposed father… did aid in digging this young lady into a deeper and deeper hole. And without a doubt he does have his own share of blame concerning some of the problems and difficulty in her young life …and the lifes and end of lifes concerning his children.
But every choice made by that young woman was her own… including the thought and action of committing suicide …and the eventual murder of 3 of her 4 children.
In terms of Biblical text…1 could look at the story of Leah. But the difference here was that Leah was married to Jacob. And though Jacob loved Rachel… and was married to both… there had to been something about Leah. Because she continued to give birth to children for him. In fact, Leah was the mother of Judah… and Judah is the line under which both David and Jesus emerge.
But getting off the Biblical angle and just going back to today’s reality… and this story 
there is only 1 reality when it comes to baring child after child for someone you hope you will be able to hold onto… or who will marry you. And that is… baring children is not going to do it for you.
Yes, you have created a tie with a person that will be between you and that person for as long you and/or he and/or the child lives… and in this case children lived. But that is it.
It does not make them love you. There is nowhere written that after Leah bared Jacob all those sons…and a daughter… that at any time Jacob came to love Leah.
But just for the sake of Biblical text… let me note that Leah did get him in the end. Because Jacob was buried in the tomb with her… while Rachel was buried along side the road on their way after having died in child-birth.
It is evident that this young mother neither loved herself or her children as 
much as she hated the prospect of loosing this young man to another woman.
And that is the travesty of it all. Because at the end of the day it does not matter what area you come from… or your level education… or your socio-economic advantages… or the lack thereof… if you do not love yourself you will continued to make mistake after mistake and doom your own life. And there will be no one to blame but you… yourself … and the ‘I’ whoever you are.
I have no doubt that the young woman in this story became overwhelmed.
Overwhelmed with having made 1 bad choice after another… and another.
Overwhelmed with trying to deal with those bad choices and not having any real support mechanism in place that might have aided her… or even assisted her in some way to start making some good choices in order to turn her life and situation around.
Nobody heard her voice. Nobody saw her tears… nobody realized that she was way over being overwhelmed.
I am sadden by the lost of her… and her innocent little children. And by the knowledge that the little son which survived will now live with this for the rest of his life.
If any of us were perfect then I guess we could all point fingers and laugh… joke about this… I guess to some degree. But life is no joking matter. It is precious. Everybody’s life is precious. And none of us is exempt from mistake making. Even at this age I still make mistakes. But thank God…He is working on my behalf that I am not overtaken.
I pray that God steps into every bad situation …and situation where people 
need help…
Now, maybe I can get up from here and finally do what I really have to do. I have been up and working on blogs since 6 AM this morning. And it really hadn’t even been my intent. The day is slipping pass me… I have got to get moving.
Hope you have a beautiful rest of the day.
I have been searching for something that I really need to find. So, I have really have to put my all and all into it today.
Well, God bless…
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2011
Add a comment April 27, 2011
Serena sick… Young aspiring athletes… Extremism…
I don’t know maybe it is because I have become somewhat disappointed in both Serena and Venus in the last few months… that when I looked at my blog 
stats yesterday…and the day before… I just never paid any attention to all the hits for info on them. As a rule I do pay a lot attention to what people are hitting my blog in search of. But for some reason not to the hits for information of the William’s sisters.
But this got pass me…until today when I happened to see the title of an internet news headline… reading that Serena was sick.
The story read that Serena had to go into the hospital following the Oscars due to a blood clot in 1 of her lungs. And it said that this past Monday it seems that Serena had to undergo…what they called ‘medical treatment’…. but sounds more like surgery for what they are calling ‘hematoma.’
It definitely sounds serious… and certainly reason for great concern.
We certainly pray for Serena and her family.
No matter how much money we may amass… it may aid in getting the best possible medical attention… but it cannot compensate for life without pain or health issues.
What would you rather have… money or life without pain or illness?
In looking over other news pieces over the internet lately… which has basically today has become my only primary means of regularly reading news… it seems to me that most of it is geared towards todays new up and coming rising athletic stars. Be it football or basketball… or whatever have you… though mostly football and basketball… it strikes me like…
Well, to me… like they are robbing candy from a baby.
Most of these new talents are nothing more than just kids that they are running after 
today… many are barely in junior high… or what they call today… middle-school. And they are running after them waving money… jewelry… and everything else that they can in order to get the young hopeful’s attention. And that of their parents also.
In fact, 1 mother was so gun-ho over what they were promising her and her son… that she signed his papers for him. They call that forgery… and it is punishable by the law. And she did it so she could commit her son to a certain college.
And today it is such a big thing just watching to see what school certain of these young hopefuls will be going to. And it means big money… endorsements… and all kinds of business to certain schools. Not to mention the attention media and otherwise to the school and/or college campus as well.
Whether it is an athletic franchise… or national pro team… or some high and mighty college… these young kids… babies really are being sought out and after to their own demise whether they know it or not.
A young kid in junior high… or–or in middle-school, if you must… has no business having his or head turned towards looking for a big pay-day sometime in 
their foreseeable supposed future. Rather their minds should be centered on their education. They should be concerned about making good grades and getting out of grade school… and then on to college.
These kids today… the chosen few… are being scouted far too young. They are being spoon fed on a bunch of hopes and far away dreams that may never come into being. The promises may 
simply not materialize for most of them. And this is a very real fact.
Then what?
Where will they turn?
What will become of their lives?
Sure LeBron made it. And so didn’t Moses Malone.
But success is certainly not guaranteed to a bunch grade schoolers who may show promise today… but may not be able to step to the mark as 
they continue to grow and develop physically. Or not grow… or not be able to stand up to the pressures of pro sports and all the baggage that those pressures bring into the life of many professional athletes.
And these kids are developing over inflated egos… and attitudes that will sooner or later destroy them and kill any promise that they may or may not have really had. But mouth and arrogance got in the way of what might have become.
A key basketball player at Brigham Young University found out the hard way… that the same way they can put you up… they can take you down. And even if it costs them a season.
There is a message to the below story LINKED here. Never get too big for your own breeches… because somebody inevitably will show you who is really the boss.
There is just so much extreme extremism in America… it is just hard to believe.
What crazy church would want to picket the funeral of U.S. military men and women who have sacrificed their lives for this country… to be outside the funerals carrying signs decrying America …and saying things like-
“Thank God for 9/11.”
Or… “God hates America.”
What sick perverted people would be doing that?
It is as insane as saying you are pro-life and you go out and blow up an abortion clinic filled with pregnant women in it.
It is contrary…and insane. And it certainly is not Christianly.
There is nothing about such acts that can be proclaimed as being holy or saintly. The people who set about enraging people to go out and to do such things are just people who are full of nothing but the devil.
And though I usually do not speak in such terms… the truth is the truth. And 
this is truth telling-time.
I felt the same way about preachers who loaded up buses to take people to Capitol Hill to protest gay marriages.
These things are just foolish.
Putting people of buses and travelling to the state capitol did not change 1 thing.
T
here is ‘sin’ in the land. There are ‘evils’ in the land. And none of this extremism attitude is addressing any of the real issues. This is why the devil is called ‘the great deceiver.’ He takes people’s eyes off what they really should be paying attention to.
There are some real core issues in this country and around the world that are in dire need of addressing. And they …these issues… go beyond self perceived notions of what is or is not sinful… or a greater sin.
Why should every American soldier have to endure a bunch of crazy people targeting their funerals in that small Kansas town… or anywhere is this country… causing nothing but more grief for their already grieving families and friends?
Is there not enough chaos and unrest all over the world without us here in America causing ourselves any more than what is necessary?
Soon people will be in the streets searching out their neighbors… and brother will be against brother. It is prophesy.
So, some berserk preacher… and it is funny all these little un-named and unknown preachers coming out of the woodwork wanting to make some kind of stir that will land them on ‘Good Morning America’ or ‘Nightline’… or some other television show. Then they’ll write a book …get an agent and go out on tour.
Going back to my original thought… these berserk little preachers trying to make a name for themselves… go out and stir up their congregations feeding them false doctrine… and backward ignorant thinking.
We serve a God of love. Who tells us to seek peace with ‘all’ men.
During Biblical times were there not homosexuals?
Did Jesus target them?
Did he set out to get them?
Did Jesus even preach against them?
No. Because we serve a God of love. Who says with ‘love and kindness have I drawn thee.’ And do note those words… ‘drawn thee.’ Not tried to chase you away… or antagonize you… or belittle or berate anyone.
And anyone who acts in such a way is not of God. But serves that other master… no matter how much they would debate this.
Well, God bless…hope you enjoy the rest of your evening. It is now March… time certainly is marching on… and seems to be getting away from us. It is flying by so quickly… fleeing.
Some time during the course of your day just take the time to look up and observe the beauty has planted up there for you to enjoy.
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 March 3, 2011
What is the question here…
What is responsibility?
When somebody espouses a whole lot of trash talking in the ghetto…
Well, they just better be able to back it up or say nothing.
That is how it is in the hood.
Now, I have never lived in the streets or out on the lane …or down on the Blvd. But I do know that when you fool around and talk a lot of junk you better be ready to back it up… or suffer the consequences.
During the pre-term elections recently held this past November… Sara Palin did a whole lot of big 
talking… before and after. Even as far as pasting up a bunch of cross-hairs upon certain campaign areas that she and her supposed ‘tea party’ crew… or group of flunkies… were aiming to take over.
This past weekend in 1 of those areas … a congresswoman was shot in the head and 6 others were killed in an area that Palin singled out on her cross-hairs map.
That sounds like a whole of lot of big time talk. The which if it had been done in the hood it would have meant all out and out war. Because it would have certainly meant that you were out to get somebody.
And it would have meant that you were gunning for them. And in hood talk… that means to kill ’em.
You don’t go around drawing pictures like that in the hood… and nobody knows what it means?
No, that is a loud and crystal clear message… ask any black folks.
Frankly, such a thing should be as illegal as shouting “FIRE” in crowded place.
I do not think that it is a coincidence that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a Arizona State 
Representative, and liberal political was shot in the head some 2 days ago.
Nor do I believe that the shooting was some ramdom act of some dissatisfied Arizonan voter.
No, I think that the picture is a lot bigger than that.
It is a picture of hate mongering and fear embedding that became very popular under the Bush administration. Something that the Republicans have become very famous …or should I say… infamous for doing. Then turning around and crying that they ‘had nothing to do with it.’
But the tactics are theirs. And they pull them out whenever a political race is hot… meaning close… and when they wish to get an upper hand.
So, they set about evoking weak-minded people to do tragic things like shooting an innocent woman in the head, who was working hard to the benefit of the people which she represents.
And, yes.
Sarah Palin is to blame along with those who coach her. And they need to go up on charges of conspiracy. For acting to incite individuals to go out and commit murder or other type of criminal acts against politicians that they are against.
If a person worked in an insane asylum and gathered up the interest of a resident in that asylum provoking that person to hate someone enough to hurt or even kill them. And the insane asylum 
person upon his release goes in search of the person they had been provoked against… and somehow hurts or otherwise kills the person… who would be to blame?
Clearly, the person who provoked the insane person to do so.
And the law would seek that person out.
So, why should Sara Palin and her people be any different?
This world is full of a lot of sick and/or weak-minded individuals who listen and believe a lot of the political rhetoric that they hear… watch or read. A lot of it is devicely twisted to anger people falsely. And in cases such as in the Palin camp… they work to 
implant seeds of violent acts.
And anyone who does this is looking for a violent outcome.
Why else would anyone put up gun cross-hairs if they were not insinuating that someone should go out and shot somebody that they have set their sights upon?
That is the only reason why someone would do that.
And to do so is illegal.
And is certainly not a joke.
Lets say the shoe was on the other foot… and the congresswoman and launch a website and put 
up a map with gun cross-hairs on it. And in the center of those cross-hairs was Palin and her family.
What do you think would have been Palin’s out-cry?
Would there have been one?
Yes. You bet… and a loud one. And Palin would have been seeking some type of action. Maybe even legal I have no doubt.
The Republicans love double standards. They can play certain games… but not you.
You can’t… because they are quick to cry ‘foul.’
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_congresswoman_shot
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110110/ap_on_he_me/us_med_congresswoman_brain_injury
If a group of cons or crooks…. or drug cartel…. or thugs had mastermind such a thing without a doubt they would have all been rounded up by now and charged.
Is this not the same thing when a drug dealer puts a gun into the hand of little child 12 or 13 -year-old, and tells them to go out and shoot somebody?
They know that the little 12 or 13-year-old is a kid, and not likely to serve a sentence as long as theirs would be, if they went out and perpetrated the crime themselves.
What is the difference between using weak-minded people that do what some of these politicians tell them to do via their commercials and other rhetoric used to poison the minds of such people, in order to have them go out and do their dirty work?
I am for justice and totally against people who would ever try to incinerate anyone against somebody simply because we do not agree politically… or religiously. Or for any reason really.
In the 1980’s when the anti-abortion acted in similar ways… the outcome was abortion clinics being bombed, and abortion doctors were killed.
How crazy was that?
You don’t believe in abortion but you blow up people in an abortion clinic?
Or go out shooting abortion doctors?
What kind of life did they believe in?
Only that of the fetus… and not that of the adult people they were killing?
Is life not life?
Are we all to agree on every subject?
Just how boring would life be if we all submitted ourselves out of fear to being liked minded because someone was holding a gun over us.
There is a sickness that prevails and is festering, least ways in this country, that makes 1 re-consider George Orwell’s book. And perhaps we need not look at Big Brother as a government system… but as a political party. The Republican Party.
Well, this is my first post for the New Year.
I was so busy prior to stepping into this New Year that I literally barely got any sleep for almost 8 days. A whole lot of legal work to take care of.
First of all, the city had come up against my parent’s house for property taxes. And I had to act really quickly in order to try to head it off.
So, that is still in the works. Hopefully, we will get a court date and God will give the Judge to be kind.
Then there some other legal matters that I wanted to have out of hair before stepping into 2011… and finally I did manage to do that too.
So, you see I wasn’t just goofing off.
And I had to go out to shovel snow 2 times this past weekend. But thank goodness it was neither heavy or a lot of snow.
So, all is well.
And I am wishing you a great and highly prosperous year.
And thank goodness God is still on throne.
Well, God bless…
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family to em 
, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2011
Add a comment January 10, 2011
Albertina Walker…. gospel legend in a big way…
When I went up over the internet tonight I wasn’t at all surprised when I
saw something come up with Albertina Walker’s name in the title. I felt that it was an announcement about her having passed… even though I hadn’t heard anything on it until that time.
But I had noticed in seeing Albertina in various video footage and on a television program that she seemed weaker… a bit more sickly. The television show I saw her on was a reception honoring her.
It is nice to give people flowers while they are yet alive. That is what these people at that event had come to do for Albertina. And she seemed so humble as she sat in her wheel chair beaming up at them all barely able to speak.
Sometimes, when you begin to age and fall off the horizon people turn away from you. They forget your name… who you are… or who you were. But Albertina Walker did more for gospel music than just sing it… and sing it with a passion. She knew also talent when she saw it… and could pick voices… people with unspeakable gifts by way of their vocal cords. It is through her that such notable 
gospel artists, such as Shirley Ann Caesar first caught our attention… when she began performing with Albertina’s group, the Caravans, at a very young age.
http://woldcnews.com/national/woldcnews/albertina-walker-passes-away-at-81/
Also part of Albertina’s group, the Caravans, was Dorothy Norwood… who is still on the gospel scene just like the Queen of Gospel Music, Shirley Caesar. Bu
t the Caravan also included some other great and mighty powerful gospel singers… such as Inez 
Andrews, Rosetta Stone and others.
In fact, I was surprised to read in the announcement of Albertina’s passing that I found in my email today… that James Cleveland also got his start under Albertina Walker as well.
I also did not know that Albertina Walker had been a protegé of the late
and very great Miss Mahalia Jackson. What a background… what musical history… and what gospel music history. My mother …and I guess everyone about her age and older…all loved Mahalia. She was truly an icon.
While I was working at a radio station in Jersey some years ago… I got the opportunity to see Albertina perform. The show was at a small church some place in Newark, New Jersey. I got there early because I wanted a good seat… so I was there to see when Albertina first walked in.
Albertina came walking in …in this fabulous full length fur coat. And ever since having seen that coat… I have had my sights on buying me a fabulous full length fur coat ever since.
That coat was talking. It was absolutely beautiful. And I could tell that it was also absolutely expensive.
And it looked fantastically marvelous on Albertina.
The show was promoted by 1 of the other radio announcers from the same radio station that I worked for. His name was Herman Amish. .. I call it because I know a lot of people know him, as he was popular on the gospel circuit. Especially with the old-timer gospel acts… because Herman did a lot of gospel promoting in and around Newark area at that time. And he knew almost all of the gospel acts during and before that time… as he had more than likely probably booked them for a show 1 time or other.
But of all the shows that Herman had done… it was Albertina Walker’s show that I went to. I had long admired her voice and her musical skills and genius when it came to relaying feeling in her songs. But I never knew she was a song writer too. Albertina wrote “Please Be Patient With Me” …and personal favorite of mine… “Joy Will Come.”
I will never forget that when my mother passed Shirley Caesar had released “Joy Will Come” on her then latest CD. And it was a duo with Albertina… there is nothing like it.
I have hunted high and low to find that CD ever since. Because it gave me so much comfort at a very low time in my life… to hear it. And I would sit at that radio station playing it over and over…and over again just crying and thinking about my mother.
There are few real song writers any more. And even fewer real people with true talent.
Truly, Albertina may have been gone from the scene for some time but her imprint will linger forever in gospel music… and its history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caravans
This morning a true gospel legend passed… and her name was Albertina Walker. She passed due to respiratory failure. She was 81… and has now gone on home.
I don’t know about where you live… but the weather here has been unpredictable. For a few days it has been wet and cold… then suddenly it is unbearably cold.
At any rate the leaves are starting to change colors now. So, I guess we are really into fall now.
Hope you have a great weekend. I understand that it is supposed to be a 3 day weekend. Guess I’ll run around tomorrow so I can rest all day on Monday. Definitely, sounds like a plan.
Well, God bless…
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2010
2 comments October 9, 2010
Some of what you may be waiting on…
You have been reading my writings… Well, some of them. You may have even watched my book trailer for my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE.
Now, and I want to show you something that I started yesterday. It is the radio spot for my book. I added some visual material just so I could launch it over youtube…and you would have something to watch.
But if you have been wondering about me… I mean my voice. What I may or may not sound like.
I mean I would be curious about you… if I read some of your work. Most people flip over a book just to take a look at what the author looks like. And I have given you that chance in my actual book trailer, which I hav
e also included in this blog.
But I am so excited about my radio spot. Tell me what you think. And it is me speaking… but then I have told you that by profession I am a radio announcer.
And if you think my radio spot is something… which thanks to a software call ‘Motion’… it really looks greater than I could have imagined. Then ‘Final Cut’…was the software I used to put it all together. And the rest is… Well, you tell me…
And one other thing… I really wished you could see my website. If you went and checked out my initial site…which really wasn’t much to check out. Baby, you should see it now!
I just finished reading this story. There are things that touch me…and things that make me mad. This story did both.
This is the kind of case you wished Johnny Cochran was still around for.
How in the world could the LA police arrest a young woman mentally challenged, hold her for a few days then release her without her pocketbook, money, or any way to get home. And seeing that the young woman was obviously distressed in some way.
How could they have done that to her?
It was a scenario set for doom.
If they had set it up the LA police could not have done a better job in aiding in the murder of this young woman. The moment this young woman was released the chances of her making it home safely without something happening…in LA?
It was slim at the very best. And the worst part of it…. her loving and caring mother tried her best to keep anything from happening to her daughter.
I feel for this family.
My goodness…what a terrible story. I cannot imagine the hell or the evil that Matrice was thrown in or the fate that she had to endure. What a terrible story. No amount of money or law suit can compensate the injustice which was done here.
I restrain myself from speaking on the Fantasia story. To some degree I 
feel for her though.
There is something that I am so sure about.
“The devil desires to steal your life.”
And if you let him he will.
There was once a time when I thought about suicide. But thank God, He only let it be just a fleeing thought.
Matters of the heart can make people do foolish things.
But the one thing about life is this…
There is always tomorrow. And usually it is a much better day.
http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12956553
I just finished talking to friend of mine who reminded me that Fantasia is illiterate. It has been so long that I had forgotten it. How she told the story of how she had to learn the songs for American Idol by having to
have someone read her the words so that she could remember them.
Can you imagine that?
For her to do that… Fantasia in fact must be brilliant. And if she had learned to read and perhaps all those other basic things that we all pretty much take for granted… she might have well been further ahead today since having won American Idol a few years ago.
There is no doubt that education is essential for success. And true success cannot be had or maintained without it.
You know to know how to read, write, add and subtract. Without these basic skills all of us would find it difficult to survive.
Now with computers and with texting… who doesn’t need to know how to read or type… or write? And it doesn’t matter whether you can type with 1 finger or with all 10… but without being
familiar with the alphabet or without knowing how to read you would be lost… totally out of the loop.
Then she got caught up with a married man.
Then there was something about her a ‘sex tape.’
Could it be a need for some attention?
That is what my son says.
Or is it that Fantasia like some many other ‘so-called’ stars when they fall out of the glimmer of all the light… they reach out to do some desperate or stupid things just to get catapulted back into the spot light?
Attempting to commit suicide is illegal. But I hear that Fantasia is due to
release a new CD and sometime this week she begins making the rounds to various TV shows. Perhaps it was… just something to give her something to talk about while she sat down for those rounds of TV interviews. Or perhaps it was all for her to grab the attention of Oprah and others to add her to their guest lists in the wake of her ordeal… and increase CD sales.
Who knows…
http://www.dvercity.com/drumbeats_fantasia.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/12/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main6766379.shtml
Hope you enjoy your weekend. Summer will soon be coming to an end. In many places school has already begun again.
Well, God bless…
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2010
THE BISHOP’S WIFE is now on sale. You can CLICK this LINK to purchase my book.
2 comments August 20, 2010
Busy…but not forgotten…
Yes, I have been busy…but I have not forgotten you.
Often, in fact, I formulated blogs in my head. It is just that they have not quite made it to the printed form. And soon those thoughts faded away… lost forever in the recesses of my mind.
It gets like that…getting busy, I mean. You get so caught up in something else that everything else… Well, almost everything else falls by the wayside.
Then just this pass weekend 1 of my sisters had a heart attack. Well, needless to say that can really send you into a tailspin…if you weren’t already into one. So, I have been busy…and now I’m into a tailspin too.
There is something about having to deal with one’s mortality that will
force you to view your own…your purpose… life… things done …and things yet hoping to get done. Then there are those things which we don’t want to do but somehow feel lead to do. And to tell you the truth that is what for the pass couple of days I have been wrestling with the most now that all of this has happened.
For a while now I have had a feeling that I am been lead to preach… as in ‘Preacher.’ So, I began to not only read my Bible but I also started to study it. You know that scripture that says…
“Study to show thou self approved…”
So, for the pass I don’t know what…over 2 years or so… I have been studying. And recently I began videotaping a television program for Public Access…a series about learning to study your Bible.
But when my sister suffered her heart attack it now seems that I have just been stalling…trying to put off the enviable.
It is not that I don’t want to do it. No, not that…though that is kind of it 
too. But I lack the confidence to do it. I can’t remember scripture…though I do believe that as the Bible says…
“He will bring it back to our remembrance.”
Yes, I do believe that. And He has shown me that He does and will do it. But it is just that… I don’t really want to preach.
I mean I have been in radio, introduces acts at concerts, promoted different events… But…but this is different.
So, as busy as I claim that I have been… Well, I haven’t been all that 
busy. I have just been laying around…low key…thinking about what it is that God is asking me to go out and do. And down deep inside…I really don’t want to do it.
But I feel I must. And then again I am afraid if I don’t… Well, I’m afraid of what God may do to me… or my family. And that is what I think my sister’s heart attack was all about.
I don’t think it was about her at all. But that it was about me …and what I am not doing.
How can you be instant in and out of season if you really lack what you think you need?
I know that God would not send any of us out without fully equipping us
to fulfill His need. But yet I can’t bring myself to want to go out into the streets and just start preaching.
How can some people do that?
All of my life I think I have been prepared for where God wants me to be. Somehow He trusts in me. But I have no trust in myself… or maybe in Him as I should.
Pray my strength in the Lord that I decide to walk in the steps that God has ordered for me.
Yes… I have been busy. And maybe later I will tell you all about it…but now I am going through something.
God bless…
If you want to read some excerpts from my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE, you can go to my website…. www.bsmith101.com . But before you do just let me tell you that the site is very much under construction. So, it is a long ways from being complete or anywhere near what I want… not even close to it at this time. But slowly…but surely I know it will be something that will meet all our expectations.
So, if you would please bear with me…I would appreciate it very much. But you can at least read some excerpts from my book there. And if you desire to order my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE, please do so here in my blog…as I can’t get that link to work.
My book is also available via authorhouse.com, barnes&nobles.com, amazon.com, filedby.com and a variety of other outlets…including ordering it through your local bookstore.
I have not officially launched the sale of my book yet. But while I was down in Charlotte for AIM, our church convention…guess who purchased my book?
Dorinda Clark Cole.
Yes, that is right. ‘THE’ Dorinda…of the Clark Sisters…the COGIC gospel singing sentations.
I still can’t believe it. Dorinda bought my book!
I was trying to give her a copy of my book to give to her sister, 
Twinkie…and Dorinda said to me…
“No, I ain’t going to give Twinkie nothing. If 
Twinkie wants your book she is just going to have to come and get it for herself. But I’ll buy your book. I support people of the Kingdom.”
Yes, that is exactly what Dorinda said to me. Amazing.
I only sold 1 book at A.I.M. and it was to Dorinda Clark Cole. Amazing.
Here is my book trailer that I created last summer… Now you get a chance to hear my voice and to see a bit of me as well. And please keep in mind…that by profession… I am a radio announcer…and a filmmaker. It does make a difference.
I’ll tell you more about AIM in another blog…and I do have lots to say. It was 
so inspiring and fantastic listening and watching all the women and men of God… and speaking with many of them of as well.
THE BISHOP’S WIFE is now on sale. And remember you can read a few excerpts from my book by going to …. www.bsmith101.com …Thank you.
I am just hearing that Walter Hawkins passed while we were down in Charlotte. I never heard anything about it while I was at AIM, a Church of God in Christ conference. He had been battling cancer my son informed me.
It is hard to believe. I never knew him or met him…but I was quite familiar with his music and that of his brother and ex-wife. Who in
the gospel world is not familiar with them?
His brother, Edwin Hawkins and his ex-wife, Tramaine Hawkins…both gospel giants in their own rights as well. 
What a great lost to this Kingdom on earth with a the lost of such a tremendously marvelous
and anointed voice as Walter Hawkins.
Walter and Tramaine Hawkins, his ex-wife, had 2 children and also some grand-children from their union together
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2010/07/gospel-great-walter-hawkins-di.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/13/AR2010071306089.html
What a great lost.
Luckily my sister realized that there was something wrong. I later found out that she drove herself to the hospital where upon checking her out…she was informed that had she not come she would have died.
Her heart was in such bad shape and she did not know it. In fact, just last weekend we were all happily in Philly for a large family gathering celebrating the life of the matriarch of our family ‘at large’… our Great Aunt Kate. But who would have guessed that in the midst of my sister’s chest a time bomb was ticking.
If you would like to know some symptoms of an on-coming heart attack CLICK these LINKS below.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/actintime/haws/women.htm
http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/healthmedical/a/womensami.htm
Be safe and keep yourself monitored by getting regular check-ups… and don’t forget to tell your doctor…
“What about my heart?”
It seems they check almost everything else but that when it comes to women. And more 
and more of us are dying from it.
My mother did. So, if heart failure runs in your family it is never too soon to start having it check.
And lets all start eating a little bit healtier.
Well, God bless…again.
UPDATE: July 29, 2010… My brother just mentioned this to me in passing. I was not aware that the current Musical Director of the Church of God in 
Christ International Choir, Judith McAllister was even married…or much less that her husband had been indicted for fraud.
One could say that when it rains it pours… Since becoming the head of the international musical department of the Church of God in Christ Dr. McAllister has been faced with one problem after another.
http://www.1800gospel.com/2010/05/husband-of-judith-mcallister-indicted-for-fraud/
There was the issue of Kim Burrell wanting to go secular… and also I think the issue that the music department has lack a certain level of spiritual direction that it once had under it former leaders. None of the songs seem to connect any more. There seems to be a lost in ‘the anointing’ that had 
long been a marker… a brand specific almost to the COGIC church which it had since its founding, some 103 years ago… being the largest and one of the oldest Pentecostal Churchs in the world.
Last year when I sat in on a workshop held by the COGIC scholars at AIM…my brother spoke on the topic of spirituality in the music. It was something that 
he said Bishop Mason was very particular about.
In the part of his dissertation, my brother wrote that Bishop Mason, the founder of the Church of God in Christ, wanted the music to come alive and be felt deep down within the soul of the people. That is something that under Judith McAllister the National COGIC Choir seems to have lost. The songs had no depth… no feeling …no emotions… nothing that brings tears to your eyes… or moves you as the songs once had.
I don’t know but someone came up on this site saying that Dr. McAllister has decided to step down from her post as the International Director of the COGIC 
Choir..though they said ‘removed’. I guess all of this might be following the allegations surrounding her husband… his arrest and indictment. He 
was a Special Agent employed by the FBI and stationed in Nashville, TN… who I guess you could say ‘decided he wanted more out of life and decided to take it.’
I do not know if it is true or not…that she has stepped down but if so… Her husband is facing 19 counts of fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud etc…etc… which all totals more than 340 years in federal prison. To that…all I can say is I really did not see what was wrong with the COGIC International music Department as it already was anyways.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/tne/pr/2010/May/McAllister%20Press%20Release.htm
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family to em , co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2010
Add a comment July 29, 2010
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