Friday, August 31, 2012

Weekend Humor




Chris had just turned 16 and had his hair in dred locks. He went to his dad and asked: "Dad it is my 16th birthday! I would like for you to by me a car for my birthday.”

So his dad replied, "Son, I will buy you any car that you want as long as you raise your grades AND cut your hair."




Chris said ok. The next week, Chris brought home a great report card he had raised all of his grades from c's and d's to all A's. His father was very happy!

"SON, THIS IS OUTSTANDING!" shouted his proud father!


Now Chris was so excited he told his dad what car he wanted a,red convertible Ford Mustang .


His dad said, "Chris you still aint cut your hair. What's up with that? That was the other part of the deal ,remember?"

Chris replied, "Well Jesus had long hair."



 His dad said, "Yeah, and Jesus walked everywhere he went too, didn't he?"




Have a great weekend and a safe holiday everybody!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

A Message To The Tea Party





This message is for the Tea Party and anti- big government people. I hope you will put it in perspective for your friends by forwarding this information to them. What does a billion seconds have to do with a billion dollars? Nothing. Instead, let's compare the billion dollars to the number of stars. One billion stars would be only about 0.00000000000001% of the estimated total 100 sextillion stars in the Universe. Makes $1 billion look pretty insignificant, doesn't it?


 In fact, both comparisons are bogus. Neither minutes nor stars are a fair comparison for money. Let's get down to money, which is what is really what they're talking about. $1 billion is only about 1.5% of the wealth of the richest man in the world according to Forbes.


 In fact, Forbes says there are 1,153 people in the world who have more than $1 billion. Three of the people trying to buy the election for the Republicans, Charles and David Koch and Sheldon Adelson, are nos. 12-14 and worth collectively about $75 billion. Three Waltons are not far behind, with a combined $70 billion.

 Shall we look at corporations?. Those entities which the Supreme Court considers people, entitled to spend as much as they want influencing our elections? The most profitable corporation in 2011, according to Fortune, was Exxon Mobil, making more than $41 billion a year on total revenues of about $453 billion. That's just one company. Wal-Mart made more than $15 billion on revenues of $447 billion.

See,those guys are relatively small. Consider Bank of America, which didn't make as much money (only about $1.4 billion,but who's counting?) but has total assets of $2.1 Trillion. Yes, that's spelled with a "TR." That's 8 times the relatively modest $250 billion which people complained that Senator Landrieu wanted to rebuild the whole City of New Orleans!


 Don't you think it's worth a mere 1/8th the assets of one bank to rebuild the entire City of New Orleans, which is a major asset for all of the United States, even the world? And that isn't even our largest bank -- J.P. Morgan Chase had lower revenues than BOA but had profits of about $19 billion and total assets of more than $2.2 Trillion.


  Now, let's consider what these Tea Party people have to say about taxes. The country's most prosperous peacetime  was the Eisenhower Administration in the 1950s.(I was born at the end of it!)  , At the time, The United States of America was "the most prosperous nation in the world," and "had the largest middle class in the world."


 At that time, the Federal Income Tax rate for rich people -- the top marginal rate -- was . . . 91%! The top Federal Estate Tax rate was 77%. In other words, the country enjoyed its greatest prosperity, and the middle class was booming while rich people were paying 91% of their income in Federal Income Tax, and then the Federal Government received 77% of their estates.



Don't let anyone tell you that we have to reduce taxes on rich people in order to bring about prosperity. In fact, there are studies that show that the general economy gets worse when the rich get richer.


Digest that for a minute....And for the rest of us sane people...Don't Boo...Vote in November!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Random Thoughts



1.We are being: shot in the head while handcuffed in the back of police cars; Beat up by gangs of cops for riding skateboards the wrong way; Our right to vote is being swindled away from us; Our President is being targeted by his own American soldiers; What should a people do when they are under siege?



 2.Two Republicans at their convention in Tampa said to a female African American reporter from CNN.." This is how we feed animals" and threw peanuts at them....Yes , this was more than likely an isolated incident but it still happened...



.

 3.If you watched the Fictional HBO drama "Newsroom this Sunday, they said about the Tea Party what the real media won't.

4.The GOP convention reminds me of a Ku Klux Klan Rally. They are throwing peanuts at Black Republicans and yelling slurs at them. Just the kind of people I want to be around. Shaking my head at Black so called conservatives and Republicans...


Just my three cents right now!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Storms


Well,Last week, Mitt Romney and Republicans were battling a political storm over Todd Akin’s controversial remarks about abortion and rape, which dominated the political conversation and further highlighted the GOP’s gender gap.


 This week, they’re battling an actual storm that has already canceled one day of convention activities and speeches, and that threatens to divert the media’s attention to a potentially much bigger story.

Mitt Romney and the Republicans already were bombarded by Hurricane Akin, and they can’t afford to take another hit because of Tropical Storm (and soon-to-be Hurricane) Isaac.

Tampa has avoided a direct hit. Soon to be Hurricane Isaac risks presenting an even bigger problem for the convention planners in Tampa -- becoming a hurricane and slamming into Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Florida Panhandle later on today. while politically, it has raised the specter of Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina anyone???

I don't think the Republicans want to be reminded of THAT public relations mess!

According to the New York Times: “Republicans were wary of the optics of television coverage split between the revelry and partisanship surrounding Mr. Romney’s nomination and the threat of the storm making landfall in Louisiana or Mississippi seven years to the week after Hurricane Katrina left an American city in ruins.”

The paper adds, “It is the second consecutive time Republicans have had their conventions disrupted by the August storms.”

Maybe God is trying to tell them something!  I'm just saying!


Monday, August 27, 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Weekend Update- Red Hook Summer






My wife and I went to see Spike Lee's new joint- "Red Hook Summer" Friday night...I can remember when a new Spike Lee movie was a major event...Now not so much anymore...This film was a tad long and took too long to get to the point,but when it did..it really did knock you for a loop! Worth seeing!

Fans of  "The Wire" will of course recognize the great Clarke Peters  (Detective Lester Freemon) in the title role as Bishop Enoch and Isiah "Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet" Whitlock as ironically enough a detective and James Ramsone "Zoogi" from season two in small roles.

If you've been to almost all Spike Lee movies , as I have...you might recognize actress Camilla Johns (Nola Darling) from his very first film..."She's Gotta Have it." in the mix and some great newcomers like Nate Parker...

Like I said...Worth a watch!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Friday, August 24, 2012

Weekend Humor



A man really loved a woman, but he was just too shy to propose to her.

 Of course, they dated about once a week for the past six years, but he was so timid and shy that he just never got around to suggesting marriage much less living together.

But one day, he became determined to ask her the question. So he calls her on the phone,

"Juanita" he says.

"Yes, this is Juanita." she said

"Will you marry me?" he asks

"Huh?" she says...

"Will you marry me?" he asks again..

"Marry you?" she asks again.

"Yeah,it's about time." he says.

"Okay....sure...Of course I will! Who's this anyway?"she says.



Have a great weekend folks!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Mission Creep (ALEC Exposed!!)



This used to be a fun blog...I used to write hillarious posts about my past experiences and the lessons they taught me....(Like the post I wrote Monday about Sparkle) I've been looking at the posts I write now and they aren't as fun and probably aren't as interesting....but...these are things people need to know.

Some of you aren't going to read a newspaper...Some of you aren't going to buy Newsweek or Time and some of you aren't going to watch CNN... But if you're going to read a blog...If you're going to read this blog...you might as well know the truth...
I would be remis if I wrote other wise. I owe it to my grandparents and all of the people who have come and gone on who's shoulders I stood on to tell the truth that they couldn't.

So with that disclaimer...I want to continue yesterday's conversation about the secret right wing think tank that is lobbying and deciding your future without you getting a vote or a chance for dissent...

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a Washington, D.C., tax-exempt organization. IE- Right wing think tank filled with Republican-Tea Party-Ultra Conservative lawmakers and funded by corporations who products we all use at some point!

Yesterday I stated that ALEC has nearly 2,000 state legislator members who pay $100 in dues every two years. Most of ALEC’s money comes from nonprofits and corporations — from AT&T to Bank of America to Chevron to eBay — which pay thousands of dollars in dues each year.

II-

Common Cause staff counsel Nick Surgey said the documents his group sent to the IRS provide “a snapshot of what ALEC’s been doing” from 2010 to 2012, but the group has not come across any ALEC issue alerts related to the Voter ID Act.
ALEC, whose staff declined to discuss the group’s role in advocating for voter ID bills throughout a seven-month News21 investigation, will not disclose which corporations voted for the model voter ID bill nor whether issue alerts were sent to states considering such legislation.


“It is vitally important to protect the integrity of our voting system in the United States and such protection must come from the state level,” a July 2009 ALEC newsletter said. “That is why ALEC members are actively working on these issues.
“Election reform is both critical and complex, with multiple possible solutions for different states. Therefore, ALEC is uniquely positioned to raise awareness and provide effective solutions to ensure a legal, fair and open election system,” the newsletter continued.

Andy Jones (a former intern) and Jonathan Moody (still an ALEC staff member) wrote that article. Andy Jones declined to comment and  Jonathan Moody did not respond to any interview requests from independent media.( It seems like the the three bigs, ABC,NBC,CBS and of course FOX don't want to touch this!)

Sean Parnell worked with state legislators Greenberg, Pearce and Ruppel when they drafted the ALEC model voter ID bill (Pearce did not respond to multiple interview requests). Parnell was then the president of the Center for Competitive Politics, an Alexandria, Va., organization that opposes campaign contribution limits.


“A number of organizations — on all sides — are a little too paranoid about talking,” said Parnell, who now runs a consulting firm, Impact Policy Management. “But you have to understand, as private entities, they have every right to say, ‘You know what? This is not something for public consumption.’”

“But I can tell you, ALEC private-sector members really didn’t care one way or the other when we discussed voter ID,” Parnell said. They must have cared enough to get some of the legislation passed across the country. Do these people think that everybody is stupid? Apparently so.

Ruppel said about 50 legislators and private-sector members voted on the bill, with a wide majority voting yes. “The private sector was a little quiet on it, but they were the ones who said people need IDs for everything these days. It’s common sense.”

Attempts were made  by several  independent news organizations to contact each of the 115 ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force members listed on a 2010 document that Common Cause published.

The majority did not return phone calls. Is anyone still reading this surprized? Former Michigan state Rep. Kim Meltzer, one of 108 Republicans on the task force, said she didn’t know voter ID was an ALEC initiative.  Really? You didn't? Yeah,Okayyyyyy and I've got a bridge to sell you...No really! I do!

Georgia legislator Edward Lindsey said ALEC gradually developed “mission creep” and strayed from its economic-centered purpose. ALEC, facing intense media attention and corporate dropouts, disbanded the Public Safety and Elections Task Force in April of this year! Shocked?? Surprised?? (The American Public leads the world in being shocked and surprised...We read and research so little that we are often the last to know about things that really matter. )

“That should help them focus on core economic policies instead of on the machinations of democracy,” said Keesha Gaskins, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, a group that opposes strict photo ID laws.

Legislator interest in voter ID....
It is difficult to find exact matches between ALEC’s Voter ID Act and strict photo ID bills that appeared nationwide in the past two years. Much of the minutiae of the bills’ language differs, which Greenberg said is the objective.

“That’s the way ALEC works. We don’t give people an ironclad law to propose,” he said.
And because Greenberg’s bill was modeled on the Indiana and Georgia laws, many legislators said their proposals were also based on those laws, not ALEC’s model bill.

Still, the Center for Media and Democracy’s Brendan Fischer said his group sees “pretty strong evidence” of the influence of the Voter ID Act: “We identified numerous instances where legislation introduced in state legislatures contained ‘ALEC DNA’ — meaning the state legislation and the ALEC models shared similar or identical language or provisions.”

State bill sponsors, including Republican state Rep. Cathrynn Brown of New Mexico  said their motivation did not come from ALEC, but from reports about the now-defunct liberal voter registration group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).Remember them? Remember the Republican-Right Wing furor over ACORN??

“We had groups like them going around doing registrations and discarding the ones they didn’t like,” Brown said. This is a lie...But I must go on..

ACORN, which endorsed Barack Obama for president in 2008, became the target of conservative activist James O’Keefe’s deceptively edited videos that purported to show employees encouraging criminal behavior.

ACORN folded in 2010 after Congress and private donors pulled its funding. New Hampshire state Rep. Jordan Ulery blamed the group for increasing partisan fighting about election fraud. These Republicans will stop at nothing..Nothing to hoist their warped viewpoint unto the world.  

Tell a lie long enough and loud enough and it becomes the truth or at least people believe it is the truth!

Chew on this folks...if all of this voter fraud nonsense is getting to you...Since 1978, there has only been 10...TEN actual cases of voter fraud reported in the United States...
That's all I'm going to say...Ask yourself...After the 2000 election that was stolen from Al Gore...shouldn't it be the Democrats that should be shouting Voter Fraud??? Hmmmm!

So now you see How government actually works and how you and I are manipulated.
Pay very close attention to who gets elected, how they vote(It's public record) and what kinds of lobbyist are behind them....Think about the companies who you buy from and what their CEO's are really about....You'd be very surprised....Chick Fil A let is just the surface.

Informed Voting and Economic boycotting sends a very powerful message....Sounds so hard doesn't it?  Really..It's not.. These people are counting on your apathy and your laziness..

Mission Creep!!!!...Mission Creeps is more like it!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The Possible Culprit



Ever Hear of the American Legislative Exchange Council? Chances are that you and most of America have not. It's not important to them that you do...But this group might be responsible for why some us have to have a photo ID when we go to vote in November.

According to a report I was privy to today, it seems as though a growing number of conservative Republican state legislators worked fervently during the past two years to enact laws requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. No surprise there!

Wait! There is more...These Republican Lawmakers proposed 62 photo ID bills in 37 states in the 2011 and 2012 sessions, with multiple bills introduced in some states. Ten states (including the one I live in) have passed strict photo ID laws since 2008, though several may not be in effect in November because of legal challenges.

More than half, half of the 62 bills were sponsored by members or conference attendees of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a Washington, D.C., tax-exempt organization. A semi secret right wing think tank.

ALEC has nearly 2,000 state legislator members who pay $100 in dues every two years. Most of ALEC’s money comes from nonprofits and corporations — from AT&T to Bank of America to Chevron to eBay — which pay thousands of dollars in dues each year. Think about that folks! All of us patronize these companies...This is what their CEO's think of you and how this country should be run.

“I very rarely see a single issue taken up by as many states in such a short period of time as with voter ID,” said Jennie Bowser, senior election policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan organization that compiles information about state laws. “It’s been a pretty remarkable spread.”


A strict photo ID law, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, requires voters to show photo ID or cast a provisional ballot, which is not counted unless the voter returns with an ID to the elections office within a few days. Less-strict laws allow voters without ID to sign an affidavit or have a poll worker vouch for their identity — no provisional ballot necessary.

The flurry of bills introduced the last two years followed the 2010 midterm election when Republicans took control of state legislatures in Alabama, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina and Wisconsin. The same shift occurred in the 2004 election in Indiana and Georgia before those states became the first to pass strict voter ID laws.

ALEC members drafted a voter ID bill in 2009, a year when the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization had $5.3 million in undisclosed corporate and nonprofit contributions, according to Internal Revenue Service documents.

At ALEC’s annual conferences, legislators, nonprofits and corporations work together without direct public input to develop bills that promote smaller government.
The group’s Public Safety and Elections Task Force at the 2009 Atlanta meeting approved the “Voter ID Act,” a photo ID bill modeled on Indiana and Georgia laws.

The task force convened in committees at the downtown Hyatt Regency Atlanta that July. Arkansas state Rep. Dan Greenberg, Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce and Indiana state Rep. Bill Ruppel (three Republicans who thankfully are now out of office) led drafting and discussion of the Voter ID Act.

Critics of photo voter ID laws, such as the Advancement Project, a Washington D.C., civil rights group, say voters without a driver’s license or the means (a birth certificate or Social Security card) to obtain free ID cards at a state motor vehicles office could be disenfranchised...Not could be...WILL be! Let's not get it twisted!

ALEC members drafted a voter ID bill in 2009, a year when the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization had $5.3 million in undisclosed corporate and nonprofit contributions, according to Internal Revenue Service documents.

They claim that ALEC pushed for photo ID laws because poor Americans without ID are likely to vote against conservative interests – a claim that authors of the Voter ID bills deny.  (But we of course know that it's true...You think they'd be doing this if it weren't?)

“By no means do I want to disenfranchise anyone,” said Colorado Republican state Rep. Libby Szabo whose ID bills have failed the last two years in the state’s Democratic senate.



“I can’t speak for each individual person,” Szabo said, “but it seems to me in today’s mobile society people have been able to manage transportation options for other neccessary services.”

Libby Szabo, who is, an ALEC member, (no surpise there)said she did not know ALEC had a model photo ID bill prior to submitting her legislation.

The late Paul Weyrich, a political activist and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, helped start ALEC in 1973. For many years, it steadily increased in state-level legislative members, developed annual conferences and had a relatively low national profile.

As ALEC grew, it began drafting and disseminating so called “model bills” that advocated free market economic ideas, such as eliminating capital gains taxes and weakening labor and consumer laws. Its website states, “Each year, close to 1,000 bills, based at least in part on ALEC Model Legislation, are introduced in the states. Of these, an average of 20 percent become law.”


This statement was difficult to substantiate until 2011 because ALEC’s model bills and membership lists were  a well kept secret. After Ohio community organizer Aliyah Rahman helped start a spring 2011 protest against ALEC in Cincinnati, someone offered her 800 ALEC documents.

Aliyah Rahman, who said she never learned the leaker’s identity, turned the documents over to the Center for Media and Democracy, a Wisconsin investigative reporting group focused on “exposing corporate spin and government propaganda,” according to its website.

The group launched a website called ALEC Exposed in July of last year.
While that site drew attention to ALEC, activist and media scrutiny exploded because of the council’s support for model bills unrelated to economic issues.

In December 2011, ColorOfChange.org, a civil rights advocacy group founded after Hurricane Katrina, began asking corporations to stop funding ALEC because of the group’s role in pushing photo ID bills.


The seeds of a more serious challenge to ALEC’s funding were planted seven years ago. Florida Republican Rep. Dennis Baxley, who in 2011 would sponsor the state’s controversial early voting and registration changes, sponsored a “stand your ground” law in 2005 that gave “immunity from criminal prosecution or civil action for using deadly force,” according to the bill’s summary.

It later became a National Rifle Association-supported ALEC model bill, and 24 other states now have similar laws, according to ProPublica.

Hmmm,sound  familiar????

II-


The February 2012 killing of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., brought unprecedented attention to the law. Police did not arrest his shooter, George Zimmerman, for nearly two months. That sparked national protests and led to the dismissal of the city’s police chief. Zimmerman eventually was charged with second-degree murder in April and is free on $1 million bond.

In March, ColorOfChange.org began asking ALEC corporate funders why they gave money to a group that supported “stand your ground” and voter ID laws, two controversial non-economic issues.

More than 25 corporations, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Wal-Mart and Amazon, have announced they would stop funding ALEC. I'm amazed that they were funding it in the first place without fully knowing what they were giving their money to (or so they say!)

“In a lot of cases, companies didn’t know the full range of what they were funding" through ALEC, said Gabriel Rey-Goodlatte, ColorOfChange.org’s director of strategy. “With voter ID, it’s possible some companies believe it’s in their business interest to tilt the political playing field in one direction, but that would be a very cynical business strategy.

“It’s one that only works if it’s done in the darkness,” he said.

Both the Center for Media and Democracy and the open government advocacy group, Common Cause, have published internal ALEC documents, including model bills, membership lists and correspondence with elected officials.

Common Cause is challenging ALEC’s status as a tax-exempt nonprofit, claiming it lobbies legislators — specifically through “issue alerts.” Common Cause claims these emails from ALEC headquarters to state legislators “constitute direct evidence of ALEC’s lobbying because they are communications that are clearly targeted to influence legislation and disclose ALEC’s view on the legislation.”

Marcus Owens, a retired director of the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division, represents a progressive church group in Ohio called Clergy Voices Oppose Illegal Church Entanglement, or Clergy VOICE. In June, Owens sent a 30-page letter to the IRS alleging that ALEC has engaged in lobbying and violated federal tax law.
But Baxley called it “a healthy thing for legislators to come together and have dialogue about bills.” He said that ALEC’s operations are similar to, though more conservative than, the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures. “If they share ideas, I don’t start yelling conspiracy. It’s very inappropriate,” Baxley said.

Meagan Dorsch, public affairs director for the National Conference of State Legislatures, disputed Baxley’s characterization. “I’m not sure why we’re being compared — probably because we’re two of the larger legislative organizations,” Dorsch said. “The only people who vote on our policies are legislators. No corporate members are involved.”

I smell something rotten in more than Just Denmark...I'll discuss this more tomorrow!

(To Be Continued....)

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Did He Really Say That?






My wife brought this to my attention Sunday night....I at first was going to ignore it...I've thought about ignoring all of the rhetoric concerning this campaign now since my mind is made up about who I'm voting for in November...(If you don't know by now, then you haven't been reading this blog.) but this is just another example of how looney the Republican Party has gotten.

Republicans were always known as fiscal conservatives and maybe they were more hawkish on war and defense than would meet my tastes and maybe they really were the party for family values and (reasonable) smaller government.. I would even gander to say that at times...They even had a talking point or two that I agreed with...and then....then they got totally crazy...totally whacked out ...started playing to the extreme right wing looney fringe....So much so that I can't fathom ever pulling a lever for a Republican candidate again..Not this Republican party...Check this latest foolishness out-


A Republican Senate nominee found himself in hot water on Sunday for suggesting that instances of "legitimate rape" rarely results in pregnancy.Huh? What? Are you seriously THAT stupid?

Rep. Todd Akin, a Republican who's locked in a hard-fought campaign in Missouri to unseat Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, was answering a question regarding his position on abortion rights in instances when a woman is a victim of rape.

"People always want to make it into one of those things — well, how do you slice this particularly tough ethical question," Akin said in an interview on KTVI-TV, video of which was circulated by the Democratic super PAC American Bridge.

 “First of all, from what I understand from doctors, [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down," Todd Akin said. I'm shaking my head....Did he really say that?

Regarding his opinion on whether to allow for an abortion in such instances, Represenative Akin added: “But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”


Of course In a statement,Mr. Akin said that he had misspoken.Of course.."In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it's clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year," he stated.

Todd Akin emerged earlier this month from a tough three-way primary in Missouri, where he rallied social conservatives behind his candidacy. Democrats actually spent during that primary to help Akin win, viewing the six-term congressman as a less formidable challenger in the general election.

Claire McCaskill, who was first elected in 2006, has become a top target for Republicans this fall, given President Barack Obama's unpopularity in this state and successive statewide victories for the GOP.


Republicans need a net gain of four seats this fall in order to take over the Senate in the next Congress, and Democrats must defend 23 seats this fall. But unexpected Republican retirements and races that have become more competitive than expected have boosted Democratic hopes of maintaining their majority.


Do you see why you need to make sure all of your ducks are in a row? Why you need to be registered? Why we simply can not keep letting these idiots like Akin keep getting elected? It makes our entire nation look bad!





Just in case anyone was wondering who I'm voting for!


Monday, August 20, 2012

Sparkle Memories







I didn't see the original "Sparkle" when it was released in 1976.  I  probably am the only person in my neighborhood or should I say of my age bracket and race that did not. It was one of those movies that everybody in the neighborhood said they were going to see.

It was definitely a "date" movie....Every guy that had a girl knew that his girl wanted to see it and was saving up his coins and making sure his car was gassed so that he could take her.
At 18 and fresh out of high school..I had no car...I had no drivers license at the time...But I did have coin...The money from so many well wishers at my graduation gave me more than enough money and with money came confidence.

There was a girl I wanted to take who we'll call Stacy....We had been secretly meeting over at the 55th Street projects, Kissing and promising each other a letter when I went away to college....And of course we both knew that we were lying.   She had at least another year of high school to do and I would be miles away in college.

Anyway, we agreed to go to see Sparkle...She'd be ready at an agreed time...We'd catch the Bus, then the El and attend the showing downtown... Yes we were going on a date in which we'd be riding the bus...Unheard of now....Unthinkable now.....In fact, it happened in the movie I viewed with Whitney Houston and Jordan Sparks with my wife this weekend and I had to chuckle.

Before we could go on our date....Stacy called me and said that her grandmother had passed away....I was stunned...I gave my condolences and all and felt genuinely sad for her...I had known Ms. Flossie for quite some time.

So that's why I didn't go to see Sparkle in 1976....But Stacy went!!!!  She went with an older guy who had a car!!!  Oh and Ms. Flossie?? She looked pretty good for a dead woman, coming out of the STATE STORE with a fifth!!!   Guess she really wanted to be with spirits closer to home!

II-





So fast forward to the present.....I'm married now and have a car and drove my wife to see "Sparkle" with Whitney Houston and Jordan Sparks.....Ms. Flossie really is dead now....Has been dead for close to 16 years! Stacy?? I don't know what became of her....Shame on her for telling such a lie....And the guy who took her to see Sparkle owns a towing company.....

The movie was great....Derek Luke, Cee Lo Green, Mike Epps and Carmen Ejongo were fantastic....My hat is tipped to Producers T.D. Jakes and director, Salim Akil.

It was a little sad to see Whitney Houston on the screen....She died months ago and never got to see her film released.....I won't talk about plot, storyline and nuance...You have to go see it....But I will say that in one scene where Whitney Houston sings..."His Eye is on the Sparrow."...There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Today...I'm going to see if I can find the original Sparkle on DVD and catch up on what I missed in 1976.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Things Done Changed!






This is for any residents of the state of Pennsylvania , where I live...Click on this if it is not large enough, but take heed... Ignorance of this new law can not used as an excuse!
Get it together folks and get the ID you need...

There are people who say that you won't and because you'll be unprepared...Mitt Romney will take this state by storm.  Let's prove them wrong...I'm assuming that most people have a drivers license!!  If not, Go down to PENNDOT and get a State I.D.   It costs a mere nine dollars to have your photo taken and a card made!

If you're a student, your student ID is fine...You can also use a passport or a photo ID from a care facility... Please do this people....Time is nigh...It has never been more urgent than it is now...Don't let this election get stolen because you weren't prepared!

A Public Service Announcement from the Maverick of All Bloggers!

Friday, August 17, 2012

Weekend Humor


Okay, that's the last Romney tax joke...Unlike the birthers..I'm not going to run this in the ground! (Crosses fingers behind his back!)

Have a great weekend everybody!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Make it Plain (Medicare)






So now...the real campaign begins! And right about time too... In Dubuque, Iowa...(Damn, that's a real mouthful isn't it?) Speaking to a crowd of more than 3,000 on the banks of the Mississippi River here, President Obama first countered charges from  Mitt Romney and his surrogates that his administration is cutting more than $700 billion in Medicare spending to transfer it to the new health care law.

 “They are just throwing everything at the wall to see if it sticks,” he said. “Here’s what you need to know: I have strengthened Medicare. I have made reforms that have saved millions of seniors with Medicare hundreds of dollars on their prescriptions,” he continued, as the crowd cheered.

President Obama's plan, if I'm understanding it right  would slow the growth of Medicare spending, while the cuts would mostly affect insurance and health-care providers, not senior citizens. Plus,ironically, Paul Ryan’s budget plan contains the same cuts.


After defending his own plan, the president shifted to offense, tying Mitt Romney to Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan, which would give future seniors a voucher or premium support -- to purchase private insurance or purchase it through Medicare.



“Mr. Romney and his running mate have a very different plan. They want to turn Medicare into a voucher program.,” he said. “That means seniors would no longer have the guarantee of Medicare; they’d get a voucher to buy private insurance.”
He wrapped up his riff on Medicare with a sharply worded contrast between his plan and that of his Republican opponents.

“Their plan ends Medicare as we know it. My plan reduces the cost of Medicare by cracking down on fraud and waste and subsidies to insurance companies. Their plan makes seniors pay more so they can give another tax cut to millionaires and billionaires.”






 In response to President Obama's volleys, the Romney campaign doubled down on its claims, releasing a statement from spokesman Ryan Williams that the president (get this) "has a long history of launching shameful political attacks on Medicare -- but he's the only person in the race who has actually cut Medicare. President Obama cut $716 billion from Medicare to pay for Obamacare and our nation's seniors will pay the price with higher costs and fewer benefits." 



Ryan Williams added that  Mitt Romney "will always protect this vital program for seniors and strengthen it for future generations."Don't bet on it.



The president was introduced here by his wife Michelle, who joins him for a full day of campaigning in Iowa. She took a softer tone, reminiscing about their 2008 days in the nation’s first caucus state that jump-started Obama’s campaign.

“Thank you for the kindness and generosity and love that you have shown us throughout the state,” the first lady said to cheers.

She seemed to make a call for a more issues-based discourse in contrast with the name-calling and hot rhetoric that has marked the last few weeks on the trail.

“Because of you,” Michelle said of Iowa voters, “Barack and I will always remember what this process can be about at its very best. Every election, you remind us what democracy is all about. It is about people getting into the issues, discussing them with their neighbors,” she said.

The Obamas have one more campaign stop in Iowa -- further east in Davenport.

One thing I am glad about ...and that is that he is going on the attack...He is explaining the differences of his health proposal and theirs...He is attempting to make something very complex as plain as he can to the average person.

I must admit that this  health care issue is so complex and murky that even I don't understand it...and I've been reading and reading and watching CNN and MSNBC trying to get a handle on it...  If I can't fully understand it and I'm doing all of this reading and research...I can imagine what the average non-reading sound bite listening and buzzword voter is going through.   They can be told anything...and they are being told anything.

I just hope the President can present a clear message..A clear enough message to get him back in the White House come November...I can feel a little bit of the passion of 2008 growing!


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Keith's Favorite Quotes





What Does That Tell You?



I imagine John McCain looked at his tax returns and went-''OHH Hell no! I'll go with the skirt."

If the Tea party crowd is offended...(and I know they are) by constant demands to see Mitt's tax returns...Imagine how everyone in the nation with half a brain felt about them constantly demanding to see President Obama's birth certificate. 

What galls me is that he produced both the long form and the short form of his birth certificate and some of them are still not satisfied...Even though the governor of Hawaii stated that the birth certificate was legitimate....Some of them are still saying that it was a fake!

So Mitt...Let's see those tax returns!




KEEPING THE FAITH: RANDOM PRAYERS "ON THE DOWNLOAD"










































































"Mommy, can I go to Timmy's blog and play?"



































Click on image to enlarge for reading






Click on image to enlarge for reading



Click on image to enlarge for reading