Tuesday, December 31, 2013

What I've Learned (The Best Of)



As this year closes out...Here is the best of What I've Learned...


1..My Mother told me early in life that "Everybody is not going to like you and if they do, then you're doing something wrong."

2. Don't look back unless it's a great view.

3. Having People tell you everything you want to hear doesn't help you or the person lying to you.

4. Sometimes, the closer you look at something , the more complex it becomes.


5.Practically all of my aunts and uncles taught me something as I was growing up...I'd like to think they left a part of themselves with me.

6. Friendship requires investment.


7.You're only as good as the day after they tell you you're great!

8. The Good Guy doesn't always win...but neither does the Bad guy...The right guy wins!

9. I'm a Baptist now (I converted to the Baptist faith when I got married.) I try to take communion as much as possible..Still it's very important to me to go through this little drill about what God's purpose in life for me is before I get out of bed every morning. (I still don't know.)

10. It's really sad that some adults act like children...Most children want to be adults one day.


11.It's a divine accident that any of us are on this Earth...Living and existing at this time....I'm humbled when I think of it all!

12. You are ultimately, the person you think you are!

Everyone have a joyous and prosperous New Year!

Friday, December 27, 2013

Weekend Humor


A few days before Christmas, a man enters a pet store looking for a unique gift for his wife. The store manager tells him he has just what he's looking for! A beautiful parrot named Chet that sings Christmas carols.

He brings the husband over to a colorful but quiet bird. The man agrees that Chet certainly is pretty, but he doesn't seem to be much for singing.

The manager tells him to watch as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a lighter. The manager then clicks the lighter and holds it under Chet's left foot. Immediately, Chet starts singing; "Silent Night, Holy Night."

The husband is very impressed with Chet's singing abilities and watches as the manager moves the lighter underneath Chet's right foot. Chet now starts to sing "Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way." The husband says Chet is perfect and that he'll take him. The husband rushes home to his wife and insists upon giving her this wonderful gift immediately.

He presents Chet and starts to explain the parrot's special talent. Demonstrating, he holds a lighter under Chet's left foot and the bird sings "Silent Night." He then moves the lighter under the right foot and Chet lets loose a round of "Jingle Bells." The wife is absolutely impressed, and with a mischievous grin asks her husband what happens if he holds the lighter between Chet's legs instead. Curious, the husband moves the lighter between the bird's legs, and the bird begins to sing..."Chet's Nuts Roasting on an Open Fire!"



Everybody have a super groovy weekend!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Keith's Passion (This Blogging Thing)


Wow! Today!  This day in 2007, Six years ago...My wife and I created this template...and published the very first blogpost I ever wrote...I believe it just said "Testing...One two three..." There was maybe a sentence more...but that was the beginning of my blogging career...Within weeks ,I was up and running, writing this blog on an almost daily basis, commenting on other blogs and making friendships with like minded people...

Keith's Space..."Whatever is On my Mind today" was born on this day...Blogs were in vogue...everybody who was anybody had one or was starting one...Everybody had something unique to say... Within eight months...I had the audacity to launch my second blog, Escapades...My Creative alter ego...A blog where because of it's episodic and serialized fiction...as well as erotica, poetry, art and music has actually surpassed this one in popularity and traffic... I waited two years and launched my third and final blog.."Good Foodie...My adventures in good cuisine and the places that serve it."

I write all three of these blogs on a near daily basis...Something I may slow down a bit in the future... Sad to say...Not too many of the people I originally started this blogging thing with still blog today...Facebook ,Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest, Tumblar have all cropped up and many bloggers find it easier to say what they have to say in short quotes in these mediums...Blogs are no longer the rage anymore..

Also...that thing called life has crept up on many and they just don't have the time or the will to write blogposts anymore like they did in the beginning...Sad to say...Many of my former blog family have closed down their blogs or haven't posted in years....

I've thought about it....Because I too have a Facebook and a Twitter account..I was actually going to shut this blog and Good Foodie down this year at one point and just write Escapades....I thought better of it...I love all three of my blogs...And I like the fact that I can expound my ideas in more than 148 charactors...I like that I can tell my stories...Real and Fiction in this medium....My blogs are here to stay until I get bored or tired...Which I doubt will ever happen...I love to write....And this way..I can write whatever and publish it and it be seen by whoever is looking....

I have lots of lurkers out there...I see you...I wish you would comment...I'd love to hear your thoughts...I have a loyal following of friends who read and comment on all of my blogs...That gives me hope....But I'd like t hear from even more people.

Truth be told...I'd be blogging if nobody was commenting or reading...Because writing is just my passion...

So Happy Blogoversary Keith's Space..Six years and still going strong....And kudos to my fans and readers of Escapades and Good Foodie too..They aren't going anywhere ,anytime soon..

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Monday, December 23, 2013

How to Lose Your Job In One Quote!



Somebody send a memo to Justine Sacco , who sent a very insensitive tweet about Aids and Africa that caused an uproar and Phil Robertson of A&E's Duck Dynasty, who likened Gay people to "drunks and terrorists" that Free Speech is to protect you from the government limiting your free speech...NOT your employer!

Justine Sacco, a former PR executive who sparked a firestorm of controversy on Twitter, apologized Sunday for her "needless and careless tweet" about AIDS in Africa.

In a written statement. Sacco apologized "for being insensitive to this crisis -- which does not discriminate by race, gender or sexual orientation, but which terrifies us all uniformly -- and to the millions of people living with the virus, I am ashamed."  Too little and way too late Justine!

She added that she is a native of South Africa and was upset that she had hurt so many people there.
"I am very sorry for the pain I caused," she wrote. I guess she is...Now that's she's lost her job!

Media company IAC "parted ways"(FIRED HER!) Saturday with Justine Sacco after the tweet, which read: "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!"

"The offensive comment does not reflect the views and values of IAC. We take this issue very seriously, and we have parted ways with the employee in question," an IAC spokesman said in a statement.

"There is no excuse for the hateful statements that have been made and we condemn them unequivocally," he said. "We hope, however, that time and action, and the forgiving human spirit, will not result in the wholesale condemnation of an individual who we have otherwise known to be a decent person at core."


The tweet  Justine Sacco sent before she left Friday for Cape Town, South Africa, went viral and created a social media firestorm.

The incident -- Boing Boing called it "the tweet heard round the world" -- was a glaring reminder that every word uttered on the Internet can be heard by seemingly everyone on the Internet, sometimes with serious consequences...Which is why I don't discuss, religion or politics on Facebook or Twitter...I keep it light hearted... On this blog, is another story!

Justine Sacco was the head of corporate communications for IAC, the media company chaired by Barry Diller that operates websites such as The Daily Beast, About.com, CollegeHumor and Match.com. Her whole job revolved around communicating with reporters -- which made her Twitter comment about Africa all the more shocking.

Justine Sacco was in London and about to begin a long vacation in South Africa when she wrote the message. Her Twitter account was relatively obscure when she posted it -- fewer than 500 people were following it. But the message went viral on Friday, unbeknownst to Justine Sacco, who apparently did not have Internet access on her flight.

How do you insult a whole continent and then go there?   Go figure!

II-

Phil Robertson, the lovable Duck dynasty guy.....Is in hot water for likening Gay people to terrorist and drunks, kind of sorta in a rambling statement...He was suspended by A&E from the popular Duck dynasty show.

In a shocking new interview with GQ's Drew Magary, Robertson -- the 67-year-old patriarch of the Duck Commander kingdom that earned his Louisiana family a fortune and a hit A&E series -- opened up about "modern immorality" and the gay community.

“It seems like, to me, a vagina -- as a man -- would be more desirable than a man’s anus," Robertson told GQ. "That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”
Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong. Sin becomes fine," he later added. “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men. Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers -- they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”He said.

I believe that he actually believes what he said...But watch....In a few days he'll apologize and say that he's sorry for "the hurt that his words caused and that he no longer feels this way." It'll be something to that effect.

He at least will get to keep his job....

Free Speech is to protect you from the government limiting your free speech...NOT your employer!

My question is- Who protects the public from your stupidity???

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Keith's Favorite Quotations

When I was a child, I wanted Toys for Christmas...
When I was a young man I wanted clothes, a fast car, a valid passport , a ticket to ride...
But now that I am older..I realize that the things I really want for Christmas are things that you can't buy....(Lessons Learned)-


Keith A. Martin, 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013

Weekend Humor

A guy meets a childhood pal: "Heyyy, What are you doing for yourself these days?"

"I'm a fireman. " he says

"Oh yeah? My 15-year-old kid wants to be a fireman. " says the man.

"Well, if you want some good advice, you've got to install in your house a pole that will go to the basement so you kid can practice, 'cause the hardest thing for a fireman is to jump off into space and catch that pole in the middle of the night. " says the man.

Ten years later, the two guys happen to meet again:  


"Well, did your son become a fireman?" he asked.

"No, but I have a daughter who is an exotic dancer." he sighed.



HAVE A GROOVY WEEKEND EVERYBODY!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

What's In A Name?

Imagine if you will, The Adolf Hitler Elementary School, if that was possible...Then imagine it being populated by 45 percent Jewish students.....Could you imagine that ever?
No...It would never ,I mean never.. ever happen....The Jewish people would not allow it...They would picket and protest and boycott until something was done about it....
But the thing is...It just would never happen....

So let's go to that strange ,strange state of my family's origin....Florida....Home of George Zimmerman...Where Marissa Alexander is unjustly incarcerated for firing a shot up in the air that hits no one....and George Zimmerman fires a shot into an unarmed teenaged boy and goes free...Let's go there....

And we find...A High School that is 45 percent African-American, named after a leader of the Ku Klux Klan.....

Only in the U.S.A. and only in Florida...Which is starting to outdo Mississippi as the most racist state in the union.

A Florida high school that for 54 years has borne the name of a leader of the Ku Klux Klan is to be renamed, officials said.

The Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Fla., where more than half the students are black, will change its name from that of the man who allegedly was the Ku Klux Klan's first grand wizard.

A new name will be proposed next month.

"We recognize that we cannot and are not seeking to erase history," said Constance Hall, a board member for the Duval County school, which was founded 54 years ago.
"For too long and too many, this name has represented the opposite of unity, respect, and equality," Hall said in a statement.

It turns out ole Nathan B. Forrest was an innovative cavalry leader and a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He  joined the Ku Klux Klan after the war; there remains a dispute over his role.

With its roots in the Civil War era, the Ku Klux Klan has long been associated with hooded, white-robed night riders who menaced blacks with cross burnings, lynchings and other acts of violence. It's a terrorist group in plain language.Who can argue with that?

The honoring of Confederate heroes and emblems has been a divisive issue in the United States, with proponents saying it pays homage to regional history and opponents saying it amounts to racism.

Memphis, Tenn., in February this year dropped Confederate names from three city parks. One was named after Forrest.

Omotayo Richmond, who moved to Jacksonville from New York, wrote in a Change.org petition that garnered more than 160,000 signatures in support of changing the school's name that doing so would go toward healing "so much racial division in Florida."

"African American Jacksonville students shouldn't have to attend a high school named for someone who slaughtered and terrorized their ancestors one more school year," Richmond wrote.

The 1,300-student public school, which became racially integrated in 1971, had voted some five years ago to keep the name, but those officials had been replaced, the petition said. Thank God..

Like I said...If you can first picture an Adolf Hitler Elementary School anywhere on the face of the earth...Picture it being populated by any percentage of Jewish children....  Would never happen.....This shouldn't have ever happened either....Ku Klux Klansmen are not American or Confederate heroes...They are vile murderers and terrorists and they represent something all Americans should be ashamed of...Not idolize.

America, America, God Shed his grace on thee!


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

MEGA

Of course...Everybody is talking about the Lottery....Believed to be worth 586 million.....My cousin asked me on Facebook what would I do if I won the 586 million....I replied that if I did win, no one would know I won for at least a year....

I wouldn't be on Television talking about it , I wouldn't allow my picture to be taken or my name to be released....

You win big money like that and you develop friends and relatives you never knew you had...Nooooo sir...That would be the most well kept secret I ever kept!

In case you don't know (and have been living under a rock) The Mega Millions jackpot is $586 million and may be increased one more time before the next drawing, which would be today as you are reading this...

The Mega Millions jackpot inched toward a U.S. lottery record Monday as it soared to $586 million amid a frenzy of ticket purchases, raising the possibility that the prize could pass the once-unthinkable $1 billion mark by Christmas Eve should nobody win before then.

Paula Otto, executive director of the Virginia Lottery and lead director for Mega Millions, said ticket sales are ahead of projections for Tuesday's drawing, increasing the likelihood it could shatter the current record of $656 million, set in a March 2012 Mega Millions drawing.

That was enough for Drew Gentsch to buy one ticket Monday morning. The attorney from Des Moines never plays, but the ballooning jackpot was too good to pass up.


"I think it's ridiculous but you have to dream big," he said. "The odds of winning are so low, there's no real reason to play. But it's fun to do so once in a while."  For the record...I don't play.

The large Mega Millions prize is the product of a major game revamp in October that dramatically lowered the odds of winning the jackpot. If a winner isn't selected Tuesday night and it rolls over past the next drawing scheduled Friday night, Otto predicts the jackpot will reach $1 billion — an unheard of amount for Mega Millions or Powerball, the nation's two main lottery games.

"We had predicted last week that if we are still on the same roll on Christmas Eve, we'll definitely be over a billion," she said.

Scott Norris, a mathematician from Southern Methodist University, said he estimates around 700 million more tickets must be sold without producing a winner for the jackpot to reach $1 billion on this run. He puts the odds of that around 6 percent.

Norris emphasized his calculation does not take into account the extra $1 that players can throw in for the Megaplier option, which allows them to increase their non-jackpot prize by up to five times.
John Hagerty, a spokesman for the Virginia Lottery, said officials can't confirm Norris' calculation. He said there's no clear number for sales if the jackpot rolls past Tuesday, so they can't accurately calculate what percentage of the possible combinations will be covered.

The current jackpot, which is the fourth largest in U.S. history and closely trails the $587.5 million and $590.5 million set by Powerball, has had heavy sales over the last several days. Otto noted that the higher the jackpot, the higher the sales. For example, when the jackpot was $99 million on Nov. 5, lottery officials sold just over $20 million worth of tickets. For Friday's then-$425 million jackpot, $168 million worth of tickets were sold.

Otto said it's likely the jackpot will be increased again after lottery officials meet Tuesday morning to discuss sales. Between 65 and 70 percent of the roughly 259 million possible number combinations will be in play when the numbers are drawn, he estimated.

"Lotto players are procrastinators. They tend to buy on the day of the draw," she said.
Some players were taken aback by the growing jackpot and the possibility that it could keep getting bigger if it rolls for a 22nd consecutive time.

Natali Justiniano Pahl, 47, bought five tickets Monday morning from a convenience store in downtown. She said the growing jackpot made her excited, albeit somewhat weary.

"It gets the excitement up, but there's a point when it's too much," said Justiniano Pahl, who works in human resources. "$5 million would be good; $550 million would be good. Either one would change your life."

Otto said officials have never had such a huge jackpot around this time of year, and it's unclear how holiday shoppers are driving sales.

 "To have that kind of money on the line the week before Christmas, we've never had that happen before," she said, "What fun."

Did I mention that....I don't play?  Guess I won't have any chance of winning...I like to hold on to what money I have...and not give it away on a longshot.  Good Luck to whoever wins....

Friday, December 13, 2013

Weekend Humor



At the end of the workday, one cowboy tells another, "That new bull nearly did me in today, partner."

"Oh yeah, what happened?" said his friend.

"I was putting out the feed, when the bull came charging at me like a locomotive from hell. He damn near got me!" He said.

"So, how'd you get away?" asked his friend.

"Well the bull kept slipping. He slipped three times, and that gave me a chance to make it to the fence and jump over." he said.

"Man, that's scary. If it had been me, I would probably have shit all over the place." said his friend.

"I DID! What do you think the bull was slipping on?"



Everybody have a super groovy weekend!

Thursday, December 12, 2013

The Story Behind The "Selfie"

Yes...as much as I don't like talking about silly stuff like this.. I am forced to..

Everybody on social media had been posting photos of a sequence of events involving President Obama and the Prime Minister of Denmark and weighing in on whether The first Lady sat in between them after his speech and whether she was pissed because it appears the Prez and the Blonde Prime Minister were getting too chummy... 

People however convieniently did not post this photo (below).....(Some of us love to create and assume drama where there might not be any....) Truth be told...For all the speculation...We don't know what was going on up there!


The photographer who captured the picture of President Barack Obama posing for a selfie during Nelson Mandela’s memorial wants to set the record straight.

First, the president really didn’t commit a funeral faux pas by posing for the selfie, the photographer said. And second, the first lady wasn’t as annoyed as she looked.
“Photos can lie,” said AFP photographer Roberto Schmidt wrote in a blog post, “The story behind ‘the selfie.’”

Roberto Schmidt took the photograph of President Obama smiling Tuesday for a self-portrait along with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt, who took the picture with her smartphone.

Although other photos showed First Lady Michelle Obama looking peeved over the display, “in reality just a few seconds earlier the first lady was herself joking with those around her, Cameron and Schmidt included,” the photographer said.
“Her stern look was captured by chance,” he said.

Many in the media, and online, had interpreted that “stern look” to mean disapproval of the president’s lighthearted behavior at a historic occasion. Schmidt addressed that, too.

When the Danish prime minister took out her mobile phone and took a photo of herself smiling with President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron, she did so in a celebratory environment, he said.

Of course people...and I hate to say this...Mostly Black women, didn't want to believe this....The truth is boring...They were busy cybe high fiving each other saying..."Go head Michelle...Aint gon be no scandal here......" a reference to the popular Television series in which an outside crisis management consultant is having a full blown affair with the fictional President. 
 
People watch too much Scandal-LMAO! Remember, that's a television show..It's made up! This is real life!

“All around me in the stadium, South Africans were dancing, singing and laughing to honour their departed leader. It was more like a carnival atmosphere, not at all morbid,” Photographer Schmidt said. “The ceremony had already gone on for two hours and would last another two. The atmosphere was totally relaxed — I didn’t see anything shocking in my viewfinder, president of the U.S. or not. We are in Africa.”

Schmidt said he doubts anyone could have “remained totally stony faced” for the entire memorial, especially as thousands of people celebrated in the South African stadium where it took place.

“For me, the behaviour of these leaders in snapping a selfie seems perfectly natural,” he said.

Of course...This won't be enough for people....Like I said...The truth is boring....Foolishness is much more fun!
 
 
 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

They Actually Compromised

While President Obama and most of the world's leaders are in South Africa at the home going celebration of the life of Nelson Mandela , a strange thing happened in Washington D.C.

Drum roll please....The Democrats and the Republicans actually compromised on something..Yeah...I know..It shocked me to write that!

Bipartisan congressional negotiators unveiled a long-awaited budget framework to fund the government past mid-January and stabilize the government's finances into the near future.


Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top lawmakers on budgetary issues in their respective chambers announced a fiscal framework that would help eliminate the constant threat of a government shutdown under which lawmakers have worked for the better part of the last three years.
"I think this agreement is a clear improvement on the status quo," Ryan said.

"We have broken through the partisanship and gridlock and reached a bipartisan compromise that will prevent a government shutdown in January," Murray said at a joint press conference to announce the agreement.

 "We have broken through the partisanship and gridlock and reached a bipartisan compromise that will prevent a government shutdown in January," Murray said at a joint press conference to announce the agreement.


The announcement follows a day full of fine-tuning the details of the agreement, which covers the next two fiscal years and set a top-line budget number for each year. The House, where conservatives could upend the agreement if they refuse to vote for it, was slated to act first this week on the legislation.

While both Ryan and Murray were optimistic the framework would have enough support to pass the House and Senate, Washington budget fights have rarely been simple or easy in recent years.

The did win quick praise from House Speaker John Boehner, Ohio, the Republican leader whose dogged budget negotiation strategies had contributed to a government shutdown in October.
"While modest in scale, this agreement represents a positive step forward by replacing one-time spending cuts with permanent reforms to mandatory spending programs that will produce real, lasting savings," Speaker Boehner said in a statement.

And President Barack Obama called it "a good first step."

 "The agreement doesn't include everything I'd like -- and I know many Republicans feel the same way," the president said. "That's the nature of compromise. But it's a good sign that Democrats and Republicans in Congress were able to come together and break the cycle of short-sighted, crisis-driven decision-making to get this done." 

 The framework would set spending levels above the $967 billion cap established by the sequester; the budget for 2014 would be set at $1.012 trillion, and the budget for 2015 would be $1.014 trillion. Appropriators will be charged with detailing the particular spending within those limits.


The increased spending was financed in part through $85 billion in reforms and "non-tax revenue," while also providing $63 billion in sequester relief split between military and non-military spending. Ryan said the proposal would reduce the deficit by $23 billion without raising taxes.

Though the tentative agreement falls far short of a "grand bargain" that solves overarching fiscal issues through a combination of new taxes and entitlement reforms, the agreement would offer some stability to government funding after several years of governing characterized by stopgap spending measures.
The deal also leaves some key elements facing Congress unsolved. Continued unemployment benefits, which Democrats want to authorize before the end of the year, are not part of the agreement. One idea under discussion, per a senior Senate Democratic aide, is agreeing to hold a separate vote on unemployment insurance this week.

Ryan and Murray shuttled back and forth between meetings with each other and their respective parties' leadership throughout the day on Wednesday. Each said their leadership was supportive of the agreement, which helped facilitate the successful negotiations.

The proposal could face additional difficulty in the Republican-held House of Representatives, where conservative groups have already begun to work forcefully against the deal before its details were finalized. Conservative groups are wary of new revenues as well as spending above sequester levels.



If conservative Republicans balk at supporting the legislation, it would imperil its passage in the House unless Democrats overwhelmingly support the measure.

"I think conservatives should vote for this," said Ryan, who will make the case for the proposal to House Republicans on Wednesday morning. The former vice presidential candidate said he expected "great support" for the measure from fellow Republicans.

In any case, legislation to formalize the details of the bipartisan agreement would have to move quickly through Congress. The House is scheduled to wrap up its work for the calendar year this Friday, though the Senate is slated to stay in Washington a little while longer.

Congress must vote to fund the government by Jan. 15, the date through which funding was extended as part of the agreement to end October's government shutdown.

Lawmakers face a separate deadline in February to raise the nation's debt limit. Ryan joked that Tuesday's announcement didn't touch on that looming challenge.

"That's another press conference subject matter," he said.

Stay tuned for other political miracles!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

I Hate Snow...I Swear I do..

I hate snow...I swear I hate snow...I fell in the parking lot....Mercifully, not on the side of my injured shoulder.....I lay there on my back for about five minutes...(I'll get up when I'm good and ready,I reasoned...) I looked around to make sure nobody witnessed it...Thankfully, nobody did...I slowly got myself up, looked around again...and put on my coolest West Philly stroll and walked out of the parking lot like nothing happened....#damnsnow....
I'm glad I wasn't the only person having mishaps out there....I was looking out of my boss's window...From the 7th floor of my office building..

Some man had a Hot chocholate or coffee or something and he just slipped and threw his cup up in the air...He didn't go down, but his coffee or cocoa is all over the sidewalk.....I feel for him...I know the feeling...

As you can tell...I don't do snow days well!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Bad Samartitan


Yesterday, my wife and I had the insightful idea that we would get up early, get breakfast and get a jump on our Christmas shopping and Grocery Shopping. We got up, got dressed and drove out to the IHOP in nearby Ardmore...

After a delicious meal...we ventured into nearby Wynnewood and began shopping at Old Navy and Bed,Bath and Beyond....While there, we went to the nearby Giant and did some grocery shopping...

Mind you..We were aware that it might snow and be mixed with rain....Might being the operative word here....

I wasn't dressed for this...I had on a sweat suit and sneakers....I should have had on some Timberlands...

We got ready to go home and snow was dropping like nobody's business...

I decided to avoid the main highway and take the side roads...Which I usually do...
We got about three miles from the exit that would have lead us into Philadelphia and
I noticed that the car in front of us was stuck...

He had his blinkers on and his car would not budge... The young man got out and began to push, while his girlfriend steered the car.....

I attempted to drive around and then my car began to slide...and worse!!! Slide backward!!  I put the car in reverse and then drive.....My foot was practically through the floor and........nothing!  The car was just pushing snow and ice into the environment...

The car behind me slid across the road and did the same thing...Now you had three cars stuck and sliding... To make matters worse.. Several cars heading toward us, now found themselves having to stop.

A number of cars behind us wisely turned around and went the other way...Then this guy drove up in a Pathfinder with four wheel drive...

This is the kind of guy....Who you think is coming to the rescue.....but  wish had stayed where-ever he was...He's yelling at all of us that were stuck and sliding to cut our engines...Then he gets out of his car barking instructions and chiding everybody for not having snow tires on...(I'm surprised he didn't chide us for not having cars with four wheel drive like his.)

This guy immediately turned me off... It's bad enough that we are all in this situation and it's not like we wanted to be in this situation or set out to be...but now we have to hear a lecture from DAD!

It was after all Sunday.....I sat in my car and kept my mouth shut....My saint of a wife was outside trying to explain to him what had happened... He wasn't hearing it...He was already convinced that he was the only sane person in the world and that all of us were slackers for not be prepared like he was...

Ever hear of the ugly American?  This is the type of guy who goes to other countries and insults the people ,he is supposedly trying to help and winds up getting boiled in a pot of stew...

I said nothing...I was a good Christian yesterday....There was a time in my life when I would have told him where to go and what he could do when he got there...I just prayed that he didn't come to my window yelling at me...He had already asked one of the motorist if they had been drinking...Glad it wasn't me...He's alive this morning because it was not me...

He did make a remark to my wife about why did I have music playing in my car at a time like this.... I guess I hadn't anticipated being graced by his presence....
Incredibly...after five or ten minutes...He threw his hands up in the air and declared...

"You people are incredible...I-I-I can't deal with this...I'm getting the hell out of here." and got in his Pathfinder and pulled off!!!

All of us stranded motorists looked at each other like...."Was he for real?"

Within a few minutes...a real Good Samaritan appeared....He patiently guided all three of us out of our predicament and directed traffic and got back in his vehicle...My hat is off to him...As for that nut who appeared first....Get a grip....He was entirely too wound up...The situation did not call for that....

I am thankful to have made it home safely without any other major incidents...

Staying warm in Philadelphia....

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Weekend Humor

A man and his two friends are talking at the bar one day.

His friend John says, "Brothers, I think my wife is having an affair with the electrician. I came home the other day and found wire cutters under our bed and they weren't mine."

 His friend Sean said, "Well I think my wife is having an affair with the plumber. I came home the other day and found a wrench under our bed and it wasn't mine."

 Greg said, "I think my wife is having an affair with a horse."


Both of his friends just stared at him.

''What?...A Horse?" they both said.

 "I'm serious!" he said. "The other day I came home and found a jockey under our bed!"

Everyone have a groovy weekend!

Friday, December 6, 2013

An Open Letter To Herman Cain

While we honor a true hero like Nelson Mandela ,who died yesterday after living an extraordinary 95 years...We also have to check those of us ,who impede our progress as a race such as Herman "Big Daddy" Cain above, who nearly got the Republican nomination for president two years ago before he was scuttled (I believe) by members of his own party....The party he is still loyal to....Where do these House Negros (as fellow Philadelphian and fellow blogger, The Field Negro would call them)come from.

I wasn't in a mood to run my usual "Weekend Humor" post today in lieu of current events...So I thought I would run Reverend Al Sharpton's open letter to Herman Cain...
Inlieu of Mr. Mandela's death...This is a reminder of the struggle , we as African Americans still have to wage here in so called post racial America.

----Forwarded Message-----
>Subject: Fwd: Message from Al Sharpton to Herman Cain.
 

The greeting on your website says, "We are looking forward to hearing from you," but I'm not sure you will be looking forward to hearing from me, Mr. Cain. 

I saw on the internet that you called the President a liar. I deplore what you are doing and the things you are saying about the President in order to gain favor with these greedy, thieving, selfish Republicans. How dare you call President Obama a liar. You are a pathetic, obviously brainwashed Black man who has lost his way … and his mind. You have had opportunity and a smattering of privilege in America that has made you forget your roots. I despise people like you and Clarence Thomas, and you both have Georgia roots.
What is it with you Black men from the South who grow up in an oppressed environment and end up siding with the oppressor? The recent case of Troy Davis in Georgia is an excellent example of the present-day oppression and legal lynching that still takes place in that state and in this country. The political party that you praise so highly is presently enacting laws to suppress the Black vote, the student vote, and many elderly voters across this entire country. Yet, you choose to stand with people who display such obscene and un-American behavior. You would throw Black people, including the President of the U.S. and others, under the bus to curry favor with these non-caring and hedonistic people.

You were there when your Republican cohorts cheered about the death penalty which disproportionately affects Black men and women in this country - some of whom have been proven to be innocent. You should be ashamed to stand with these people and, yet, you appear to be proud of such an association.

Yes, President Obama does believe in fairness and sharing the responsibility of the tax burden, it is not socialism nor is it class warfare, and he is not a liar for saying it. That kind of rhetoric from you and those with whom you identify is nothing more than a weak defense for the greedy and despicable philosophy that you choose to embrace.
 

You had the unmitigated gall to tell Wolf Blitzer on CNN that two thirds of African-American people are brainwashed and incapable of thinking for themselves. You are surely touched in the head. The millions of us who are capable of thinking for ourselves know who is really brainwashed … YOU!, You're brainwashed whiter than snow.

Do you really think those people with whom you stand on the debating platform really respect you and see you as their equal? They, as well as others, see you as a joke and a person who is engaging in “buffoonery.” A Republican majority House and Senate would never pass your "so-called 999 plan.” They would never deem it in their best interest. Besides, there are many who believe your plan is a coded message from Satan. If you flip the numbers, they become the “666 plan.”
You will never be President of this country, and I thank God for that. I must say, you certainly live up to your last name. Just as Cain in the Bible so blatantly slew his brother, you are equally willing to do the same politically and economically to millions of Black and middle class citizens of this country. Such behavior is extremely ugly and need I remind you, Mr. Cain, that God does not like ugly.

 
>
>P.S. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm having a nice day, I would tell you what I really think about you.
>



Go get him Reverend Al!!!!

Thursday, December 5, 2013

The Great Man Has Fallen



The Great Man has fallen!   REST IN PEACE NELSON MANDELA  (1918-2013)

I need say nothing else!  The man's life spoke for itself....

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

What Do You Expect Him To Do?

One Day some Republican will be elected President and may try to dismantle the affordable care act....also known as "Obamacare"...I hope by that time...that so many Americans will have health care and be benefiting from it, that the hue and cry will force whoever that Republican is ,to stand down....The same way both Republicans and Democrats stand down whenever there is a whisper about gun control and regulation...

On the subject of the Affordable care act , The President vowed that it will not be repealed while he is in office and he vowed to fight for it.

This is his legacy...What would you expect him to do?  With his approval rating now at it's lowest in his presidency and having had a pretty tough month....It's good to know that he has not just packed it in..

President Barack Obama said his signature health care reform law is going nowhere as long as he's in office, and he'll spend the remainder of his presidency fighting to make it work if necessary.

"Do not let the initial problems with the website discourage you, because it's working better now, and it's just going to keep on working better over time," President Obama said at an event at the White House intended to promote the health law and its benefits.

"If I've got to fight another three years to make sure this law works, then that's what I'll do," he defiantly added later. Take that Tea Party...Fox News....Go run and tell that....(I know you will!)

"We're not repealing it as long as I'm president," President Obama said at another point during his remarks, a thinly-veiled reference to repeated Republican attempts to undo or eliminate the law.

 The president sought to pivot on Tuesday from weeks' worth of bad headlines focusing on the difficulty in accessing HealthCare.gov, the primary online portal through which consumers can purchase insurance under the federal exchange. A self-imposed Nov. 30 deadline behind him, President Obama said the website is now "working well for the vast majority of users."

 This month is also a crucial time for President Obama and the law. Proponents of the Affordable Care Act have always circled this month on the calendar as a crucial month in which they expected enrollment to spike as the end of the year approaches.

The administration is now highlighting the website's improved capacity -- 1 million users visited HealthCare.gov on Monday without major issues, and over 380,000 users had visited the site by midday on Tuesday -- in hopes of encouraging Americans to enroll in insurance plans.

But President Obama and Democrats suffered in the polls as scrutiny over the troubled rollout grew. Tuesday's event was meant to turn the public's focus back toward some of the law's benefits, and criticize Republicans for threatening those very benefits should they finally make good on their threat to repeal the law. 

Just hours earlier on Capitol Hill, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, demurred on the question of whether the GOP would produce and vote on its own health care plan next year.President  Obama challenged Republicans to produce their own health care plan if they found his law so distasteful.

To that end, President Obama also culled stories of Americans who either benefited or stand to benefit from some of the provisions in the law -- like the ban on lifetime caps for benefits, or allowing younger Americans to stay on their parents' plans through age 26.

"My main message today is we're not going back," President Obama said. "That seems to be the only alternative that Obamacare's opponents have."

Perhaps predictably, Republicans in Congress were dissatisfied by President Obama's remarks.
"Another campaign-style event won't solve the myriad problems facing consumers under Obamacare," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said of the president's 12-minute remarks delivered from the White House complex. "The only 'fix' is full repeal followed by step-by-step, patient-centered reforms that drive down costs and that Americans actually want."  

You know,Boehner and McConnell go on and on about what the American people supposedly want...But when you ask them for an alternative plan....When you ask them what they think the American people want...Do you notice that they either change the subject or they attack the President on something else???...They don't have a clue. They haven't known what the American people have wanted since they were freshmen senators and I'm betting that they didn't know then!

Ahhhh,like I said before....America....America....God shed his grace on thee!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The Culture Of Mourning

I have an Aunt...May she rest in peace who used to critique funerals....I kid you not...She would go to a funeral and come back and be talking to my Grandmother or my mom or one of my other aunts about how well so and so looked in their casket.

"Ohhh he looked like he was sleeping." she would say... Now considering that the person was dead, I can't imagine them looking like they were doing anything else...

When I was a kid...I thought then that the way she talked about the job the funeral director did or didn't do was kind of morbid..

''Don't take him to Cantrell....They don't do the make up right...take him/her to Hawkins...They do the best undertaking..."

By the time I was a teenager....I used to find this kind of talk funny and would laugh about it with some of my cousins...(Sad to say, some of my older cousins didn't find the humor in a lot of what my aunt did at funerals and found it a bit offensive.)

My aunt used to snap photos of the dead body in the casket too....She snapped a photo of my grandfather in his casket and sent it to my mom....This totally freaked me out....I don't know how she felt about it...But I cut that photo up...I did not want to remember him that way...

But my aunt and her proclivities aside....This post is not really about her...

See..I was willing to put my aunt in a box and just say...that was her....It was not until I got on social media and the internet that I discovered that there are more people out there just like her and worse,if you can believe that...

Lord have mercy...I call them the professional mourners.....

If you have a decent amount of Facebook friends and Twitter followers as I do...then you know what I'm talking about...People that can't wait...can't wait for some celebrity to die, so they can post a RIP tweet or status update and act as if they knew the person....It's like a race to be the first person to mourn someone...

A lot of time these people don't fact check and they wind up reporting someone dead who is actually very much alive...Ask Bill Cosby, Sinbad, Eddie Murphy, Nelson Mandela to name a few who have been declared dead a number of times...

The most ridiculous one was this summer when several people were mourning the death of Lena Horne...
Despite the fact that Lena Horne actually died about four years ago... People were writing tributes and RIP's like it was going out of style...

A phony story started going around about Jackie Chan being dead....I told people that it was a hoax....Even sent them a link saying that it was a hoax and some of the same people kept reposting the same phony story about Jackie Chan being dead...

These are the same people who will glide by their real friends tweets and status updates about a family member who has passed and won't even offer a condolence...but let some celebrity who you don't know and had no chance of ever meeting die and they are posting heart felt condolences as though it was a member of their family!

I have to shake my head.... My Aunt was old and I'm going to give her a pass....She was at an age when most of her friends and loved ones were dying.....These folks on Twitter and Facebook are young people...So what is their excuse?????

We have created a culture of mourning.

Monday, December 2, 2013

What I've Learned

1. There are some people who constantly live in the past and because they do, they won't let you be at peace in the present...

2. You have to leave people who live in the past, where they are in order for you to enjoy your present and have a future.

3.Julia Child said -“Being tall is an advantage, especially in business. People will always remember you. And if you're in a crowd, you'll always have some clean air to breathe.” Being a somewhat tall man myself..I can relate.


4.Joy really does come from within you....


5.Sometimes ,when I wake up in the middle of the night, I think of how close I am to the end of my life...Then when the sun comes up....Things get better and I look at life in a different perspective.


6.You are ultimately, the person you think you are!


7.I look into the past only to guage how far I've come from that point.


8.You're only as good as the day after you've been proclaimed to be great!


9.Never Compromise your principles.


10. Make sure you have principles.

Peace and Love!
 

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Keith's Music Spotlight

Happy Sunday...Enjoy this Fred Hammond song...A favorite of mine now of days!


Saturday, November 30, 2013

Weekend Humor


Bill was embarking on a long trip and decides his wife should wear a locked steel panties so that she wouldn't cheat on him. He locks the panties and gives the key to his best friend Ed saying, "Bro, if I don't come back in 4 weeks, set her free".

Bill was only 30 minutes into his journey when he sees a cloud of dust behind him. It was Edward running after him.  

"What's wrong?" Bill asked.

Edward, still panting says, "You gave me the wrong key!"

Everybody have a super groovy weekend.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Marissa's Thanksgiving Wish!

When I heard the news I jumped for joy.... Marissa Alexander was freed a few nights ago...Just in time for Thanksgiving...I'm so glad that people are looking at her situation and in the post Trayvon Martin trial drama,not just forgetting a young African-American woman who is just as much a victim of Florida's 'Stand Your Ground "Law as young Trayvon Martin was.

As I said above..Marissa Alexander is free from jail in time to spend Thanksgiving with family she has not seen for much of the last three years.


The Florida woman – who had been serving a 20-year sentence for firing what she described as a warning shot at her abusive husband – was released from jail Wednesday night, according to a report from First Coast News. Her bond was set at $200,009.


Although no one was injured in the incident, a jury convicted Marissa Alexander of multiple counts of aggravated assault with a firearm in 2012, requiring a 20 year sentence thanks to Florida’s “10-20-Life” law, which sets mandatory minimum sentences for crimes committed with a gun. Her conviction was overturned in September when a judge ordered a retrial after finding that the jury instructions in her original trial were erroneous and had unfairly put the burden on Alexander to prove that she had fired her shot in self-defense.

Marissa Alexander has spent more than 1,000 days behind bars, according to her lawyers’ count, keeping her away from her youngest child for most of the first three years of her life.

The organizers behind the Free Marissa Now Mobilization Campaign cheered her release in a statement Thursday on the group’s Facebook page.

We are thrilled that Ms. Alexander will be able to prepare for her new trial amid the support and love of her children and family from whom she has been separated far too long,” the statement read.

The Free Marissa Now Mobilization Campaign is more determined than ever to win complete exoneration for Marissa Alexander.”

Her new trial is set to begin March 31, 2014.

It's a small victory...but I'll take it, as I'm sure Ms. Alexander will.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Even The Pope Weighs In On Right Wing Fantasies...

Yesterday Pope Francis sharply criticized growing economic inequality and unfettered markets in a lengthy paper outlining a populist philosophy that he says will guide his papacy as he pushes the Catholic Church to reach out more, particularly to the disenfranchised.

 Using sharply worded phrases, Francis decried an “idolatry of money” and warned it would lead to “a new tyranny.” And he invoked language with particular resonance in the United States, attacking an economic theory that discourages taxation and regulation and which most affiliate with conservatives.


Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world,” Francis wrote in the papal statement. “This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.”
“Meanwhile,” he added, “the excluded are still waiting.”


While Pope Francis has raised concerns before about the growing gap between the wealthy and poor since becoming pontiff in March, his direct reference to “trickle-down” economic theory in the English translation of his 50,000-word statement was striking.

The phrase has often been used derisively to describe a popular version of conservative or Republican economic philosophy that argues that allowing the wealthy to run their businesses unencumbered by regulation or taxation bears economic benefits that lead to more jobs and income for the rest of society. Liberals and Democratic officials have rejected the theory, saying it is contradicted by economic evidence.
The papal statement, known formally as an apostolic exhortation, is the first to be written entirely by Francis and discusses a wide range of topics, including the need for “broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the Church.” 

Pope Francis, who was elected to lead the church in March after the resignation of Pope Benedict, hailed from Buenos Aires and became the first non-European to lead the church in more than a millennium.


Since then, he has been the subject of fascination and attention among many Catholics, political leaders and people all over the world as he has taken a decidedly more populist approach to the papacy.

He has adopted a softer tone toward gay people, eschewed lavish features of the papal lifestyle, washed the feet of convicts and repeatedly urged greater effort to lift up the world’s poor.

Pope Francis’s focus on the subject is especially notable given dramatic changes in the world economy.
Many of the world’s richest countries are experiencing historic levels of income inequality, with the quality of the life for workers in the middle no longer improving.

Then again...I've said this before...All of this...

And even in the developing world, there are emerging concerns about inequality and whether workers will benefit from their countries’ increasing prosperity. In China, for instance, officials have made repeated promises to tackle the country’s widening income gap.

For my part... my mouth is hanging at Pope Francis' denounciation of bogus "trickle down" economic policies. I'm amazed and impressed.Now Fox News...Run and tell that!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

D-Rose's Blues

It must hurt to be a Chicago Bulls fan right about now....I mean ,it must really hurt...I can imagine that this franchise had such hopes for the upcoming season....They're superstar was back and he looked good...Moving seemingly faster than ever before ....Explosive...side to side...Hitting shots....and now...
well....

Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose is out for the remainder of the season....Again!


The team said that  D-Rose had successful surgery Monday morning in Chicago to repair a torn medial meniscus in his right knee. He was hurt Friday night at Portland.

The 2011 NBA MVP missed all of last season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in Chicago's 2012 playoff opener against Philadelphia. He has played in just 50 NBA games - 49 in the regular season and that lone playoff game - since the Bulls' run to the Eastern Conference finals during his MVP season.

The latest injury occurred in the third quarter against the Trail Blazers.
He lost his footing while trying to change direction to get back on defense when Nicolas Batum stole a pass from Joakim Noah and started the other way. Rose limped across the court and couldn't put any weight on his knee. After the Blazers scored, he came out of the game during a timeout.


 It didn't appear there was any contact on the play. D- Rose was unable to return and was on crutches afterward.
With D-Rose back, the Bulls were expected to challenge LeBron James and the Miami Heat for supremacy in the Eastern Conference and contend for their first championship since the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen era. Instead, they're in a familiar spot - trying to get by without their cornerstone player.

''We, of course, feel very badly for Derrick. He's in good spirits, about as well as can be expected under the circumstances, and he's already thinking about his rehab,'' coach Tom Thibodeau said Sunday, before the team announced their star was gone for the season. ''Typical Derrick. He's concerned about his team, his teammates.''


The top-seeded Bulls bowed out in the first round of the playoffs in 2012 against my Philadelphia  76ers after Derrick Rose went down and fell into a season-long holding pattern without him last year, waiting for a return that didn't happen.

His recovery took on a circus-like feel. Fans saw him shooting and dunking before games last season and wondered why he wasn't playing, particularly as the Bulls fought through injuries and illnesses down the stretch. Adidas released videos documenting his progress, but Rose mostly stayed in the background, saying little about his recovery. That changed midway through the season.

There was also speculation that D-Rose's camp was advising him to sit out last season and that there was a rift with the organization, particularly after older brother Reggie Rose ripped management for standing pat at the trade deadline. But Derrick Rose denied all of that.


All of that faded into the background he came  back this season - and insisting he could regain his MVP form.

He was off to an up-and-down start. He was averaging 15.9 points and was shooting just over 35 percent.
He was looking a little better in his last two games, with 19 points in a loss at Denver and 20 against Portland.

Without Rose in their line up, veteran Kirk Hinrich figures to start with second-year pro Marquis Teague backing him up.

''I think we have an understanding of what we need to do,''  Coach Thibodeau said. ''We can't feel sorry for ourselves. We have to circle the wagons, and then get out there and get the job done.''

 It must hurt to be a Chicago Bulls fan right about now....I mean ,it must really hurt...

Friday, November 22, 2013

Weekend Humor -(Short and Corny)

Q. What do you have when only one line dancer comes to your party? A. A One Liner!

Q. What do you call two line dancers doing the dance Shoot the Rooster? A. A Pair of Shoot (parachute)

Q. What do you call a one legged linedancer? A. Eileen (I Lean)

Q. Where do tired linedancers go for Breakfast? A. Ihop

What's a vampire's favorite dance? The Fang Tango.

Q. Where can you dance in California? A. San Fran-disco

Q. Why did the line dancer cross the dance floor? A. To get to the other (Electric) Slide!

Two fonts walk into a line dance club. The barman says to them, "Get out. We don't serve your type here."

How do they dance in Arabia? Sheik-to-sheik (cheek).


HAVE A GROOVY WEEKEND EVERYBODY!



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