Weekend Humor

Amy, a city girl, marries a farmer. 

  One morning, before he goes out to the fields, the farmer says to her,

 

"The artificial insemination man is coming to impregnate one of our cows today. I drove a big nail into the two-by-four over the cow's stall. You show him where it is."

The farmer leaves, and a while later, the artificial insemination man arrives. Amy takes him down the rows of cows unti...l she sees the nail.

She says, "This is the one, right here."

The man says, "How do you know?"
Amy says, "By the nail over its stall."
The man says, "What's the nail for?"

Amy says, "I guess it's to hang your pants on."

 

EVERY BODY HAVE A SUPER GROOVY WEEKEND!

The Continuing Conversation

 

 

Yesterday, Arizona Governor ,Jan Brewer...announced her decision to veto legislation  that would have allowed businesses to legally refuse service to anyone on "religious freedom" grounds, effectively allowing them to discriminate against same-sex couples and anyone else...Blacks, Latinos,Asians..Muslims, et al on the grounds of religious beliefs! 

Governor Brewer said the bill had "the potential to create more problems than it purports to solve."
"Senate Bill 1062 does not address a specific or present concern related to religious liberty in Arizona," she said. "I have not heard one example where business owners' religious liberty has been violated."

The state legislature passed the bill, known as SB 1062, last week. But in recent days, it has come under intense criticism from activists, lawmakers and business interests both in Arizona and nationally. The state's two Republican senators, Jeff Flake and John McCain, called on Brewer to veto it, and major corporations like Marriott, Apple and American Airlines all wrote to the governor and expressed their opposition.

Businesses in the Phoenix area were also especially worried, with the Super Bowl set to be held in Glendale, Ariz. in 2015. On Monday, the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee came out against SB 1062, stating, "[W]e have heard loud and clear from our various stakeholders that adoption of this legislation would not only run contrary to that goal but deal a significant blow to the state's economic growth potential. We do not support this legislation." 

Arizona hasn't been the only state pushing a bill that would allow open discrimination against same-sex couples; similar bills have been popping up in states including Tennessee, Kansas, South Dakota and Maine.

In the end...It was dollars and cents that got this ridiculous bill that shouldn't have been written in the first place killed..What is more American than that?

Haven't We Had This Conversation Before?

In the enlightened state of Arizona ...There is a bill floating around that would allow businesses to deny service to Gay people if they so choose...  based on , get this...the proprieter's religious beliefs...

Tell me...Do the idiots that draft these kind of bills get headaches when they think this stuff up??

In a move eerily reminiscent of Jim Crow laws of the past, the Republican-dominated Arizona legislature has passed a measure (SB 1062) that would allow businesses to deny service to customers who are gay.

  It now goes to Governor Jan Brewer, who has said she has not yet decided whether to sign it.

 She hasn't decided ? What is there to decide??...This is blatant discrimination... I'm not Gay...but even as a Hetero-sexual, I find this appalling...

It's shocking and appalling that in the year 2014 this is on the verge of becoming law. And it's shocking and appalling – though, sadly, not surprising – that nearly every Republican in Arizona's House and Senate voted in favor of it.

State-approved discrimination has no place in America, and we need to speak out against it.

I tell you, The Republican Party is becoming so ridiculous and so out of touch that I'm afraid in a few years they may become just a footnote in American politics...But I've said this at least two times before...

And I ask you again...Wasn't this matter settled??... Legal segregation...Why are we having THIS conversation again?

Claudette!

The woman above has been largely forgotten...She's still alive thankfully....And since we are in the waning days of Black History Month...I thought that I would be remiss if I didn't honor an unsung Black Hero.

When we think of the beginnings of the civil rights movemant, we always think of Rosa Parks and her brave and defiant stance on that bus in Montgomery, Alabama...We all know how she refused to give up her seat on that bus to a white passenger and she was subsequently arrested and black citizens of Montgomery began a boycott of the bus company ,led by a charismatic and then unknown minister named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began the death knell of segregation...

What you don't know is that it had all been done many months before by someone else....

Claudette Covin!!  This is her story!

At age 15 Claudette Colvin was a bookish, bespectacled young woman who was fascinated by lessons about Africa and Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth during Negro History Week at her school.

On March 2, 1955, Claudette Colvin says, she channeled the spirit of Sojourner Truth and Harriet  Tubman when she refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a Montgomery, Ala., bus nine months before Rosa Parks committed the same defiant act.Claudette Colvin points out in interviews that the white woman was young and had an available seat opposite her in the same row, but given the Jim Crow custom, there couldn’t be any suggestion that the races were equal, so Claudette Colvin was asked to get up. But she,like Rosa Parks refused.

Not only was her refusal met with an arrest, but the male officers were particularly rough with the 15-year-old. Colvin recalled what happened on the progressive radio program Democracy Now:

 "One kicked at me, and when one—and he knocked the books out of my hand—out of my lap. And then one grabbed one arm, and one grabbed the other, and they manhandled me off the bus. And after I got into the squad car, they handcuffed me through the window ..."

With her act of defiance, Claudette Colvin gained significant attention. Civil rights activists had been looking for a standard-bearer for their cause. Claudette Colvin’s case seemed perfect. But Claudette Colvin herself didn’t fit the bill. For one thing, she was dark-skinned in a movement that had been largely light and middle class.

Decades later, when asked by National Public Radio why she thought Rosa Parks was remembered instead of her, she responded, “She fit the profile. Parks had the right hair and the right look. Her skin texture was the kind that people associate with the middle class.”

Which meant a more acceptable challenger to the white establishment.

There were other factors as well: Rosa Parks was 42 years old at the time, married and a seasoned activist and seamstress who worked for the NAACP. Claudette Colvin was just 15 years old, with few connections to the black professional class in Montgomery.

She was also soon to engage in an affair with a married man and become pregnant. Not exactly the symbol the movement was looking for.

And the rest is as they say history.

 Claudette Colvin’s name was erased from the movement, and for about 50 years, no one heard about her. She lived in virtual obscurity until a few diligent journalists and historians began writing about the almost forgotten civil rights pioneer.

A writer named Phillip Hosse was writing a book called Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, tried to speak with Colvin for four years before she agreed to sit down with him. The condition of her participation was that he would write a book both to teach young people about the civil rights movement and to let them know that she was the first.

In the 2009 National Book Award winner, a fierce personality emerges. Claudette Colvin, without a doubt, was a passionate freedom fighter who deserves to be remembered and celebrated for her contributions to humanity. She is now a retired health worker living in New York City.

At the conclusion of her biography, Claudette Colvin reflects on her contribution to the movement and what she was thinking as a 15-year-old: “Why don’t the adults around here just say something? Say it so they know we don’t accept segregation? I knew then and I know now that, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can’t sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, ‘That’s not right.’ And I did.”

That Claudette Colvin’s story is largely forgotten and missing from our official  black history is an insult to this courageous women and  other unknown young people who helped changed the course of our country.
,

Random Thoughts

1.So Is Quality of Life Really the new sexy?

2.Is there a nationwide conspiracy by white racists to shoot and kill young African-American males and use ''Stand Your Ground" and "I was frightened for my life" for their defense???

3.Facebook,Twitter,Instagram and Pintrest killed the Blogger...I'm one of a dying breed!

4.Is it just me or were any of you tired of the Winter Olympics too?

5.How are Republicans going to explain that they are dilligintly working to defund  healthcare and keep workers from getting a living wage???

6.I've been very down on Awards shows the past few years, but I'm actually looking forward to this years Oscars, though for the life of me...I don't know why?

7.I've got about five books , brand new books in front of me that need to be read....

8.If I could leave Blogging and Social Media alone...I might actually read some of my new books!

9.My wife has a Kindle now and I have the Kindle Ap on mY IPAd-mini.....Maybe if I download the books...I'd have an incentive to read them!

10.I can't believe that I wrote that last line....

Peace everybody!

Weekend Humor

Have a Super Groovy Weekend everybody!

Ms. Valarie

A Juror in the Michael Dunn case who I know only as "Ms. Valarie" came forward today and said that she felt that he was guilty and that he effectively got away with murder...

Ms. Valerie, Juror #4 thank you so much for having the courage to embrace common sense...and not being afraid to come forward and say YOU found him guilty and that you don't believe that crap about him being afraid for his life.

One of the jurors who convicted Michael Dunn of attempted murder after he fired into an SUV during a fatal argument believes he should have been convicted of first-degree murder.

"I believed he was guilty," Ms. Valerie said in an interview with ABC's "Nightline" early Wednesday. Also known as Juror No. 4, she asked that her full name not be given in order to protect her identity.

A Florida jury on Saturday night convicted Dunn of three charges of attempted second-degree murder for shooting into an SUV full of teenagers after arguing about their loud music. He was also convicted of one count of shooting into the vehicle.

But a separate first-degree murder charge in the death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis resulted in a hung jury. Prosecutor Angela Corey said she would seek a new trial on the charge.

Dunn faces 60 years or more in prison for the attempted murder charges when he's sentenced next month.

On the murder charge, Valerie said the jury split over the issue of self-defense.

Florida law says the use of deadly force is justifiable if someone reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.

In his testimony, Michael Dunn insisted that Jordan Davis threatened him and that he saw a gun. Police never recovered a weapon.

Ms.Valerie said the jury's first vote was 10-2 in favor of a murder conviction. Over nearly 30 hours of deliberations, the vote became 9-3.

Ultimately, the jury convicted Michael Dunn on the charges of attempted murder.

Ms. Valerie said all the jurors felt Dunn crossed a line when he continued to fire at the SUV as it fled the scene in Jacksonville. In their minds, any threat Dunn may have felt before had passed.

"We all believed that there was another way out, another option," she said.

But for Valerie, it never should have happened at all. Michael Dunn could have chosen another path.

"Roll your window up, ignore the taunting, put your car in reverse ... move a parking spot over. That's my feeling."

Ron Davis, the victim's father, told ABC's "Good Morning America" he believed Dunn should have been found guilty of first-degree murder. But the father said he thought jurors tried hard to render a just decision.

 "We believe absolutely with all of our hearts that they did everything that they could to come to what they believe was the most just decision," said Jordan Davis' mother, Lucia McBath. "We do now know that they were torn."

The revelations from the juror come after prosecutors released recordings of nine phone calls Dunn made while he awaited trial in a Florida jail.

Some of the conversations were mundane, while others revealed a man who calls himself the victim and the victor.

"Like, I'm the f***ing victim here," Dunn said. "I was the one who was victimized."

"I mean, I don't know how else to put it," Dunn continued. "They attacked me. I'm the victim. I'm the victor, but I was the victim too."

Other comments by Dunn highlighted his negative perception of the teens.

"When the police said that these guys didn't have a record I was like, you know, I wonder if they're just flying under the radar," he told his fiance, Rhonda Rouer. "Because they were bad."  He actually should have said "Because they were Black, therefor they had to be bad."

It was November 23, 2012, when Dunn pulled into a gas station in Jacksonville, parking next to a red Dodge Durango with four teenagers inside.

The teens had come in for gum and cigarettes; Michael Dunn, meanwhile, had just left his son's wedding with his fiancee, who'd gone inside the convenience store for wine and chips

.

Michael Dunn didn't like the loud music -- "rap crap," he called it -- coming from the teens' SUV. So he asked them to turn it down.

What followed next depends on whom you believe. Michael Dunn says Jordan Davis threatened him, and he decided to take matters into his own hands upon seeing what he thought was the barrel of a gun sticking out of the Durango.

But prosecutors say it was Michael Dunn who lost control, firing three volleys of shots -- 10 bullets total -- at the SUV over music he didn't like.

After learning almost six hours later that he had killed Jordan Davis, Michael Dunn testified that he became "crazy with grief," experiencing stomach problems for about four hours before taking a nap.

"My intent was to stop the attack, not necessarily end a life," he testified. "It just worked out that way."

Yet Rouer, His fiance testified that Dunn had never mentioned any weapon to her -- be it a shotgun, a stick, a barrel or a lead pipe.

In fact, police found a basketball, basketball shoes, clothing, a camera tripod and cups inside the teenagers' Durango. There was no gun in the vehicle.

Micheal Dunn himself never called police. The first contact he had with them was at his home in Satellite Beach as he was being apprehended.

Arguing that he wasn't in a rational state of mind, Michael Dunn admitted, "It makes sense that I should have (contacted authorities). We didn't. I can't tell you why." I could tell you why , because he knew he was in deep doo doo by then, that's why!

Ron Davis ,father of the slain teenager, Jordan Davis  wants another trial.

"I want Michael Dunn to be tried and found guilty of killing my son, letting him know that it was wrong to kill my unarmed 17-year-old," Davis said. "All the other 17-year-olds out there, they shouldn't have to fear the adults with the guns that are running around here shooting them at will."

I second that!  Thanks again Ms. Valarie!

The Only "Florida" I feel Safe With

Are You Kidding Me Florida?

Really? I don't know where to begin on this one...Once more we are in that strange state of Florida...Once more we are dealing with a White male who has gunned down a black male and has used(ABUSED) the stand your ground law and used the justification that "he was afraid for his life" and he felt threatened....Once more there was one juror, maybe more that suspended reality and could not return a guilty verdict for first degree murder which Mr. Dunn, a racist bully certainly deserves...

They found him guilty of three counts of attempted murder and three firearms counts which carry about 90 years in prison...a life sentence for the 47 year old...but somehow couldn't convict him of killing 19 year old Jordan Davis...Almost like they believed that somehow the slain teenager was somehow responsible for all this carnage...

Unbelievable...How could you believe that Dunn tried to murder the three surviving teens, but didn't murder the one person who died??? That is just puzzling the hell out of me...

Jurors on Saturday night found a white Florida man guilty of three counts of attempted murder and one other charge for the fatal shooting of a black teenager over loud music, but a mistrial was declared on the most-serious charge against the defendant — first-degree murder.

After deliberating for more than 30 hours over four days, the jury convicted Michael Dunn, 47, of three counts of attempted murder in the second degree and one count of firing a deadly missile into an occupied vehicle, but deadlocked on the first-degree murder charge, prompting the judge in the case to declare a mistrial on that charge. Florida State Attorney Angela Corey(She tried George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin murder case) indicated she would seek a retrial on that count.

Sentencing on the other charges was set for March 24. Dunn still faces at least 60 years in prison on the lesser counts. He could face a sentence of life in prison if he was convicted on the first-degree murder charge on retrial.

Michael Dunn argued he was acting in self-defense when he shot at an SUV 10 times while parked next to four teens at a Jacksonville, Fla., gas station in November 2012 after an argument about loud rap music emanating from the vehicle. The shots killed Jordan Davis, 17, of Marietta, Ga.

Michael Dunn showed no emotion as the verdicts were read. Davis' parents left the courtroom in tears.

But Dunn’s attorney, Cory Strolla, said later that his client was stunned by the results.

“He basically said, ‘How is this happening?’“ he said. “It has not settled in.” 9I find his reaction totally amazing...He didn't expect to get convicted....What world is he living in??)

“It’s been a long, long road and we're so very happy to have just a little bit of closure,'' Davis' mother, Lucy McBath, told reporters later.

Yeah ,she got just a little bit of closure...Not enough...Here's hoping the Prosecution gets a conviction next go around.

Welcome to America

Comentary coming tomorrow...Speechless right now!

Weekend Humor

After a tiring day, a commuter settled down in her seat and closed her eyes. As the train rolled out of the station, the guy sitting next to her pulled out his cell phone and started talking in a loud voice: "Hi sweetheart. It's Eric. I'm on the train".

"Yes, I know it's the six thirty and not the four thirty, but I had a long meeting". "No, honey, not with that blonde from the accounts office. It was with the boss".

"No sweetheart, you're the only one in my life".

"Yes, I'm sure, cross my heart"

Fifteen minutes later, he was still talking loudly.

When the young woman sitting next to him had enough, she leaned over and said into the phone,

"Eric, hang up the phone and come back to bed."

Eric doesn't use his cell phone in public any longer.

EVERYBODY HAVE A GROOVY AND SAFE WEEKEND!

It's Backkkkkkkkkkkkk! (More snow)

So much snow ,I'm actually afraid to go outside...I looked at my car and I can barely recognize it...(Glad I put that cover over it...) I'm not about to shovel today...(And now it's raining!) Glad I have everything I need at home...Thankful I have Electricity and Heat!

I Hate Winter!

A Time For Common Sense

Yesterday Attorney General Eric Holder brought up an issue that I have been championing for several years..Allowing paroled men or ex-convicts the right to vote.  It was only a few years ago that I learned that in some states, once you are convicted of a felony and spend some time in priosn..you lose your right to vote.

I'm certain some hack politician wanting to appear tough on crime pushed this through to other hack politicians that didn't have the courage to shoot this down...If a man has served his time in lock up and theoretically paid his debt to society...why do we continue to punish him once he's "free"??

Attorney General Eric Holder is calling for an end to state laws that bar felons from voting, even after they have served their sentences.

"By perpetuating the stigma and isolation imposed on formerly incarcerated individuals, these laws increase the likelihood they will commit future crimes," Attorney General Holder said Tuesday at a Washington, D.C., symposium on sentencing laws.

Attorney General Holder said the restrictions bar 5.8 million Americans from casting a ballot, including 2.2 million African-Americans.

"Nearly one in 13 African-American adults are banned from voting because of these laws. In three states -- Florida, Kentucky, and Virginia -- that ratio climbs to one in five," he said.

Holder called the laws a vestige of post-Civil War racial discrimination, with a disproportionately high impact on minority communities.

The laws were not intended to improve public safety but rather "to stigmatize, shame, and shut out a person who had been found guilty of a crime."

Justice Department figures say Florida's law has disenfranchised roughly 10 percent of the population. Similar laws in Mississippi bar 8 percent of the population from voting, the figures say.

Three states -- Florida, Iowa, and Kentucky -- permanently disenfranchise convicted felons, unless the government approves an individual request to have rights restored. Eight others -- Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming -- bar at least some, though not all, convicted felons from voting.

In most states, voting rights are restored after a sentence is served, though some also require completing terms of probation or parole. Nearly all states bar felons from voting while they remain in prison.  I can understand that...but once a man is out...he should be allowed to vote...Come on..it's time for common sense..and in saying that...I expect Republicans and conservatives to disagree.

The Smart Case

I seem to remember some years back, Meta World Peace, when he was Ron Artest and played for The Indiana Pacers ...had some water or soda poured on him by an ignorant fan and he went after the fan...Something which started one of the biggest brawls in NBA history...He was fined and suspended...Someone correct me if I'm wrong...but not much happened to the fan who started the brawl...

When I go on the MSM and FOX Sports pages....I notice that there are a number of angry and jealous and hateful posters who turn every sports story into a race issue and who say some of the nastiest and most hateful things about the athletes who's salaries they feel as though they pay.

Most of these athletes happen to be African -American...although there are a few White athletes that get it too, to be fair...I suspect that most of these posters are guys who couldn't cut the mustard on a feild or a court when they were of playing age and probably don't cut the mustard with the ladies ,not then, not now and are working some job that they hate or not working at all...This fuels their hate, their rage and their jealousy...

Then you have the fan who feels because he paid and exorbant amount of cash to see an athlete..whether pro or college ...He can say anything he wants to this athlete and the athlete, who is still human can't say or do anything back.

The pros and the colleges treat the athletes as though this is so because whenever an athlete retaliates against such treat...The athlete is punished...The ignorant fan almost never is..Kind of unfair...

As is the case of Marcus Smart..suspended for three games for pushing an ignorant fan who he claims called him a nigger and a piece of crap!

II-
Marcus Smart, the Oklahoma State sophomore who shoved a Texas Tech fan in the final seconds of a game Saturday night, has been suspended for three games and he and the fan exchanged statements of apology.
“I want to apologize to the fan, whose name is Jeff Orr. I want to apologize to him. I want to apologize to my teammates, to my coaching staff, Coach [Travis] Ford, my family, Oklahoma State University,” Smart said in a brief news conference. “This is not how I [conduct] myself, this is not how this program is ran. This is not how I was raised. I let my emotions get the best of me."
“Just can’t let that happen again. This is a lesson I’ll have to learn from. The consequences that are coming with it, I’m taking full responsibility. No finger pointing. This is all upon me."

He is a far better man than I....I wouldn't have done it.  he probably was advised by the school to do it...because after all...College Basketball is big money.(For The school...not the athlete..another injustice...Another blog post for another time.)

Jeff Orr, the Tech super fan(ie-Stupid fan) who infuriated Smart by calling him a “piece of crap” as he stumbled into the crowd in Lubbock, agreed to attend no more Tech games for the rest of the season.
“I would like to take this opportunity to offer my sincere apologies to Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State, Tubby Smith and the Texas Tech Men’s Basketball program,” Orr said in a statement (via ESPN). “My actions [Saturday] night were inappropriate and do not reflect myself or Texas Tech — a university I love dearly. I regret calling Mr. Smart a ‘piece of crap’ but I want to make it known that I did not use a racial slur of any kind. Additionally, I would like to offer my apologies to Texas Tech fans that have been embarrassed by the attention this incident has created.”

Everybody has made nice... Story over right? For now!

Some people take sports just a little too serious... It's a game and if you're a fan...you're not playing and you're not earning or losing a plug nickel, regardless of who wins the game..Unless of course you bet money and nobody does that, right?

More Weekend Humor

A man is sitting in a bar when a beautiful woman walks up and whispers in his ear, "I'll do anything you want for 50 bucks."

He puts his drink down and starts going through his pockets. He pulls out a ten, two five's, a twenty and ten ones.

He thrusts the wadded up money into the woman's hand and says, "Here...paint my house."


Have a Sensational Saturday Everybody!

Weekend Humor

A couple was getting married, and it was only three days before the wedding. The bride calls her mother with some bad news. "Mom," she says, "I just found out that my fiance's mother has bought the exact same dress as you to wear to the wedding."  

The bride's mother thinks for a minute. "Don't worry," she tells her daughter. "I'll just go and buy another dress to wear to the ceremony." 

"But mother," says the bride, "that dress cost a fortune. What will you do with it? It's such a waste not to use it." 

"Who said I won't use it?" her mother asked. "I'll just wear it to the rehearsal dinner."

II- 

 During the wedding rehearsal, the groom approached the pastor with an unusual offer: "Look, I'll give you $100 if you'll change the wedding vows. When you get to the part where I'm supposed to promise to 'love, honor and obey' and 'be faithful to her forever,' I'd appreciate it if you'd just leave that out."  

He passed the minister a $100 bill and walked away satisfied. On the day of the wedding, when it came time for the groom's vows, the pastor looked the young man in the eye and said: "Will you promise to prostrate yourself before her, obey her every command and wish, serve her breakfast in bed every morning of your life, and swear eternally before God and your lovely wife that you will not ever even look at another woman, as long as you both shall live?"  

The groom gulped and looked around, and said in a tiny voice, "Yes," then leaned toward the pastor and hissed: "Hey man, what's wrong with you? I thought we had a deal?" 

The pastor put a $100 bill into the groom's hand and whispered: "She made me a better offer."

Have a groovy weekend everybody!

He Would Have Been 19

He would have been 19 years old today....By now he would have graduated from high school...Might have been a freshman in college...FAMU!  Might have had his first car...a girlfriend....Might have done a lot of things....but instead, his body lies a mouldering in the grave....

His murderer, George Zimmerman is getting ready to box Rapper, DMX in a celebrity boxing match...

Only in America can something so ridiculous happen...Why are these two fighting in a celebrity boxing match? Because they both need the money....DMX hasn't had anything resembling a hit record in over ten years.. He's spent more time in court than in the recording studio...

And George Zimmerman?/ Don't get me started on him......He's trying to parlay his infamy into celebrity....

Trayvon would have been 19 years old today...Heaven knows what he might be doing now..Maybe he wouldn't have gone to college at all...Maybe he'd have a job....Maybe he'd have his own apartment...Who knows? That's the thing..We'll never know...He was robbed of that.....

And George Zimmerman is preparing for a celebrity boxing match...

America..America...God Shed his grace on thee!

Allergic to Winter

It's a slow news week...So I'm going to do what I usually do..complain about the weather...

I live in Philadelphia...To date..We've gotten 37 plus inches of snow in just the first five weeks of this year...I hate snow!....I hate Ice...I hate being cold...I hate winter...Action News is forecasting another snow storm for to night as I write this into tomorrow and then more for Saturday....This Winter is wearing me out!

So How to cope?


1. Exercise. The first thing you can do to shake off those winter blues is to exercise. Physical activity boosts serotonin levels in your body which helps to fend off depression. If it’s not too cold, go outside and take a good, long power walk.I could do this...but I doubt that I will.

2. Get Into the Light. Both natural and artificial sunlight have great benefits, so open the blinds and let those rays (what few there may be) in. If it’s an overcast day, turn on some lights inside the house instead.
There is lights on in my house...Not much light outside though!

3. Increase your social interaction. It’s easy to stay indoors when it gets cold or bad weather make transportation difficult. But getting together with friends and family, even if it means setting up a play date for your kids just so you can mingle with other parents, being social is a huge, mood-changing exercise no matter what time of year it is.Good idea but I don't have young kids...Maybe I'll see who else is off from work and wants to split a pizza!

4. Make changes to your diet. Eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and laying off of the caffeine and carbs will increase your mood and help in fending off winter weight gain. Not drink coffee? Not a chance!

5. Redecorate. I am sure there is a corner of the house that you have wanted to do something different with, no? Since the polar vortex likely already has you house-bound, make the most of it by changing your scenery. And moving the couch from here to there or hanging new wallpaper will also get you more of our #1 step — no gym membership necessary. HAH! Fat chance!

6. Read that book you never got through. You would be amazed by how much time flies when you’re engrossed in a page turner. And, with the onslaught of e-books and Kindle bestsellers today, the options really are endless. That's an idea I can get behind..I have about four Walter Mosely novels that I haven't read yet!

7. Reconnect with your family or roommates. No parents available for that play date? Have one with your spouse or housemate instead. A good adult game night gives you a chance to spend quality time with those you love most.I don't have a child that young...My daughter is 33 and has three kids of her own..And they don't live here...

8. Finish those Netflix movies sitting on the shelf. Got 378 films in your queue? No better time than February and or mid winter to get through all those documentaries or TV shows you planned on binge watching back in September. You might actually have a conversation piece when you get back to work.  I might at that!

It's the middle of an ice storm... Like I said...This winter is wearing me out!

Barack one, Bill, Zip

It was Super Bowl Sunday...And as is customary...The Network that hosts the Super Bowl interviews the President of the United States...

Guess what network was hosting the Super Bowl?  FOX!  The only time I ever watch that network now is when there is a sporting event...Okay...I do watch Sleepy Hollow...Nicole Behaire is hot!....

Well ,like I said it was FOX's turn to host the Super Bowl..and super bully... Bill O'Reilly used the occasion to grill the president on a few of the conservative's favorite topics, including Benghazi and the IRS' targeting of conservative groups.

Bill O'Reilly interrupted the president frequently during the interview to press his contention that the Obama administration withheld information about the attack on the US embassy in Libya for political reasons and a corrupt culture at the IRS. Yeah,Yeah ,yeah...They go on and on ad nauseum about the same things ,even when it's been proven that they are wrong...It's like comedian Bill Maher said...The right wing lives in a bubble and truth and reality is on the outside of that bubble.

After quite a bit of sparring, the president finally turned the tables and said Fox News was actually to blame for keeping both controversies alive:

Bill O’Reilly: “Your detractors believe that you did not tell the world it was a terrorist attack because your campaign didn’t want that out. That’s what they believe.”

President Obama: “And they believe it because folks like you are telling them that.”

Bill O’Reilly: “I’m not telling them that. I’m asking you whether you were told it was a terror attack.”

President Obama: “And what I’m saying is that is inaccurate. We’ve revealed to the American people exactly what we knew at the time.”

On the IRS,Bill  O'Reilly questioned whether a local Cincinnati office knowingly targeted conservative groups for scrutiny with the knowledge of president's team.

President Obama: “These kind of things keep surfacing because you and your TV station will promote them. Bill, when you actually look at the stuff there’s been multiple hearings on it.”

Watch the interview for yourself...

What I've Learned

1. Fear is what drives you...Your response to that fear is when your true virtue appears!

2.Tuesday is the absolute worst day of the week...You don't know whether to look ahead or look backwards!

3.If it's people that make you go crazy at times...It stands to reason that it's people who also make you well.

4.Having Sex in a car probably isn't a good idea...but the idea of it still fascinates!

5.To be a successful Husband and Father and to make a lot of money is so important in the way a man views himself that it sometimes blocks insight and innovation.

6.Do what makes you feel good every now and then...Feed your ego, feed your face or go out and feed the hungry!

7.The good guy doesn't always win, but the right guy does!

8.In Life, always have an exit plan!

9.I've learned that those who talk don't know...and those who know..Don't talk.

10.You can't do anything about  anything you can't do anything about.


PEACE!

It's THAT Given Sunday Again!

It's THAT given Sunday again...Super Bowl Sunday...Who ya got? Me?  Nobody...I'm just going to watch a Football game...I don't have a dog in this fight... I suppose if I lived in Seattle or Denver I would..but I live in Philadelphia...and we haven't been to the Super Bowl...The big dance since 2001.

Of course I will be looking forward to the crazy commercials...I get a kick out of them...and little else...Not particularly fixing anything out of the ordinary...I may order pizza and I expect to have some family and friends over...but outside of that...Nothing...

I remember in 2001 when the Eagles, My Eagles squared off against the Patriots....I was actually at a Super Bowl Party....It was packed with friends and well wishes and  the food...Lawd..the food, Fried Chicken, Greens, Mac and Cheese, Candied Yams, Hoagies, Beer, Soda...You get the picture...

Those were heady times...But that was then...This is now...It is after all...a Football game....That's all it used to be...A football game...We have over commercialized it and damn near turned it into a Holiday!

We have the fire of the Seattle Seahawks’ defense, the NFL’s best, that’s fueled by the attitude of its vivacious and vociferous leader, Richard Sherman.

We have the ice of the Denver Broncos’ league-leading offense, which has adopted the quiet demeanor of quarterback Peyton Manning while stringing together spine-chilling performances.

And now these opposites will collide in the most highly anticipated Super Bowl we could have asked for...Or so it is said.

Who will win the battle between the quarterbacks?

Will Sherman keep the attention on his all-world cornerback play this time around?

And where will the rings ultimately be won?

All I know for sure is that this time tomorrow...We will know all of the Answers to these questions...

Stay tuned and Enjoy!

Keith's Music Spotlight (A Classic Colabo)

text-align: center;"> Stevie Wonder and the late great Luther Vandross collaborated on this 1985 throwback classic-