Keith's Favorite Quotes

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because some day in life you will have been all these." George Washington Carver, African-American scientist 

Dancin Nancy

I don't know...Maybe It's just a slow news day....Maybe I've hit rock bottom and just gotten to the point where I don't have anything else to write about...Perhaps civilization really is coming to an end...I don't know...but the news is just getting sillier with each minute.

According to TMZ- one of the celebs who will be announced as a "Dancing With the Stars" competitor tonight will be none other than former prosecutor/current TV host Nancy Grace. The uber opinionated Nancy Grace made plenty of headlines and received much criticism for her coverage of the Casey Anthony murder trial. She currently hosts "Nancy Grace" on the Headline News Channel, a subsidiary of CNN.

Oh say it aint so!  Actually, Nancy can do a lot less harm on Dancing with the Stars  than she does on her cable tv show where she and her sycophants (did I spell that right?) try and convict people on national television before they come to trial...

I have to admit...When I'm really, really,really bored...I watch..She's like a car wreck....You really are horrified at the sight, but you have to look...You have to peak between your fingers...   So, much luck to you Nancy...I hear that Mike Tyson may be back on Dancing With the Stars this coming season too!  Mike Tyson, Nancy Grace! Now that's must see TV!

Good Night Irene

Hurricane Irene slammed into my city (Philadelphia,PA.) yesterday and most of last night...Being the ex-military man that I am...I was prepared for the contingency as we used to say....My wife and I made our trip to the Supermarket early yesterday morning...

We picked up TV dinners, canned goods, water, juices, snacks and batteries for flashlights...We made sure that we picked up any medications that we would need from their pharmacy. Our next stop was Lowe's..

We stopped at Lowes for plastic buckets in case their was any leakage from the ceiling. (It wasn't..) I had an idea of getting some sandbags to fortify the garage and the basement..but that was aborted...I came too late..
It seems several people had beat me to it...So I would have to cross my fingers or improvise...Another thing I learned from being in the military. (Never thought those disastor preparadeness exercises would ever come in handy.) We had first aid kits, flashlights, batteries, a working battery powered radio  ,buckets and plenty of food.  Our next and last stop was .....The Gas Station.  What if we had to evacuate??  Of course we didn't...but I was hearing reports that in New York City (which is being hit hard as I write this) they did have to evacuate parts of it... I wouldn't want to have to evacuate with next to no gas in the car...So off to Hess we went!.

After gassing up...It was home we went...I parked the car and we went inside...Thankfully, there was no power outage, unlike in other places... No flooding either.  The corner of my block has been known to flood under normal circumstances....It didn't last night.  We had power, cable (another surprise...Our cable has been known to go out if the wind blows too hard, which it was last night and early this morning.) and internet access all night.  We charged our phones immediately after getting home so that we would have access to the outside world just in case......

Then we waited!

Irene came with a fury!...High winds...Almost unending rain and it appears that it has passed as of this writing and we are all in one piece.  A soft wind is blowing.  There is light rain...but nothing like yesterday and early this morning... Good Night Irene and good riddance! Deuces Irene!

Weekend Humor

Duke and Marlene were married for 16 years. When they first got married Duke  said, "I am putting a box under the bed. You must promise never to look in it." In all their 16 years of marriage Marlene never looked. However on the afternoon of their 17th anniversary .curiosity got the best of her and she lifted the lid and peeked inside. In the box were 3 empty beer cans and $1874.25 in cash. She closed the box and put it back under the bed.

Now that she knew what was in the box, she was doubly curious as to why. That evening they were out for a special dinner. After dinner Marlene could no longer contain her curiosity and she confessed,saying, "I am so sorry. For all these years I kept my promise and never looked into the box under our bed. However today the temptation was too much and I gave in. But now I need to know why do you keep the cans in the box?" Duke thought for a while and said, "I guess after all these years you deserve to know the truth. Whenever I was unfaithful to you I put an empty beer can in the box under the bed to remind myself not to do it again."

Marlene was shocked, but said, "I am very disappointed and saddened but I guess after all those years away from home on the road, temptation does happen and I guess that 3 times is not that bad considering the years." They hugged and made their peace.

A little while later Marlene asked Duke, "Why do you have all that money in the box?" Bill answered, "Whenever the box filled with empties, I cashed them in."

Keith's Favorite Quotations

This was sent to me as one of those endless office e-mails that your friends always have time to send..This has often been attributed to comedian George Carlin...but I'm not sure if he said this or not.  There is something in this about prayer and he was an outspoken atheist, so I'm doubtful if he actually said this..but this is still words to live by. I'm going to say that the true author is unknown...This is still a fovorite of mine.


"The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.


We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.


We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.


We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.


We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.


These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...


Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.


Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.


Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.


Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.


Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.


Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.


AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:


Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

Peace!

R.I.P. Nick Ashford

 Nick Ashford  May 8, 1942,  - August 22, 2011

Nick Ashford...One half of the great songwriting duo of Ashford and Simpson died Monday night after a long battle with cancer.

Ashford & Simpson's songs are so ingrained in American pop culture ,that they almost seem to have written themselves at times. — Such songs like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "You're All I Need to Get By." Nick Ashford was married to his songwriting partner, Valerie Simpson, for over 30 years. Nick Ashford died Monday at the age of 69.

Ashford and Simpson wrote "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" for Diana Ross, when she began her solo career.

Nick Ashford told NPR five years ago he never expected that song (''Solid")) to get that big. "I was shocked ,surprised — when "Solid" became a hit," he said. "I wasn't sure I thought — I loved the song but didn't think it would rise to the heights it rose. It was just interesting to me. And now it's like our anthem.
We can't leave the stage before we sing that."

Nick Ashford met Valerie Simpson at a Harlem church, she was a 17-year-old music student and he was a down-on-his-luck dancer, the son of a construction worker from Michigan. Their first big hit began as a joke when they started working with a major music publisher.

"We came into his office one day and he said, 'You guys got a song for us?'" remembers Ashford. "And we said, 'Oh, yeah, we wrote this great song.' But it was a song we went out the door singing when we couldn't write any songs. We would say, ''Let's go get stoned.'" The song became a hit for Ray Charles, who was then fresh from rehab.

They caught the attention of Motown's Berry Gordy Jr. and Smokey Robinson who signed them to a lucrative contract as Producers and songwriters and soon had them penning hits for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Diana Ross, The Marvelettes, The Four Tops and other Motown acts. Valerie Simpson even enjoyed a short career as a solo artist on Motown's Tamla imprint.

After they left Motown in the early 70's, they became a very popular duo in the mold of Marvin and Tammi and began writing and producing for themselves as well as Chaka Khan, Teddy Pendergrass, Whitney Houston and collaborations with Quincy Jones among others.

 Valerie Simpson wrote the music and Nick Ashford wrote the lyrics.. As a song lyricist, Nick Ashford was a master of economical storytelling. He'd use just a few words to convey a huge, powerful story in a four-minute song. Which is not always easy to do. You have characters presented, you have drama, there's suspense, there's tension, there's conflict — and that in a nutshell was Nick Ashford's true lyrical skill and magic.

I Missed The Quake!

Today, there was apparently an earthquake!  An earthquake that I managed to miss completely, if you can believe that.!  It occurred in between one and two o'clock according to what I am hearing...I was ironically enough at chapel service over in the hospital when it occurred.  I go to this service every Tuesday, especially when I've missed Sunday service..So while I was in the chapel listening to the speaker of the week..This is what was happening elsewhere-

Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated buildings across the East Coast on Tuesday after a moderate earthquake in Virginia that was also felt as far south as Charleston, S.C. and as far north as Boston. No tsunami warning was issued, but air and train traffic was disrupted across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states.

In the Washington, D.C., area, parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were among the areas evacuated. All memorials and monuments on the National Mall were evacuated and closed.

At the Pentagon, a low rumbling built and built to the point that the building shook. People ran into the corridors of the government's biggest building and as the shaking continued there were shouts of "Evacuate! Evacuate!"

The quake even broke a water main inside the Pentagon, flooding parts of two floors, NBC reported.

"We were rocking," said Larry Beach, who works at the U.S. Agency for International Development in downtown Washington, 83 miles from the quake's epicenter. "It was definitely significant."

Initial damage reports from Washington included Ecuador's embassy and the central tower at the National Cathedral. Three pinnacles on the 30-story-tall tower broke off.

The quake was the third strongest along the East Coast in recorded history, USGS records show. Charleston, S.C., was hit by a 7.3 in 1886 and Giles County, Va., saw a 5.9 in 1897.

Two nuclear reactors near the epicenter were taken offline as a precaution, officials said. No damage was reported at either.

At the U.S. Capitol, light fixtures swung and the building shook for about 15 seconds while the tremor hit, NBC News reported.

The same happened here in Philadelphia, In New York City and as far up as Boston. My daughter and my wife ,who were in different parts of Philadelphia said that they felt their building shaking...

Surprisingly, I felt nothing..Had no idea that anything had happened until I got their phone calls...I saw people in the streets with their smartphones and their IPADs all searching for information...I was doing the same.

I scanned  Facebook and Twitter, where I'm getting most of my news now of days and everybody was talking about the quake...The quake that I completely missed ...Only I could miss an entire earthquake..Go figure.

Talkin Out the Side Of Their Faces

Some times I don't know what these Republicans are talking about.  They bash the President, twenty four seven...Which is all they seem to be good at and all they seem to unite on...Ask them if they have a solution to the nation's economic woes and double digit unemployment and all they want to talk about is debt, reducing the deficit. Not that that is not important...It certainly is...but getting a great many able and willing Americans back to work is just as important!

They also like to talk about not taxing the American public anymore...but what they really mean is that they don't want to tax their corporate sponsers and lobbyists who for the most part are the interests that have funded  many of their campaigns.. (Eric Cantor, the hedge fund baby comes to mind)

Now..Check this out..Congressional Republicans want to raise your taxes. Say Whattt???? Impossible, right? GOP lawmakers are supposed to be so virulently anti-tax, surely they will fight to prevent a payroll tax increase on virtually every wage-earning American starting Jan. 1, right?, right??? Think again!

Many of the same Republicans who fought hammer-and-tong to keep the George W. Bush-era income tax cuts from expiring on schedule are now saying a different "temporary" tax cut should end as planned. By their own definition, that amounts to a tax increase.

.

The tax break extension they oppose is sought by President Barack Obama.(But Of Course! ) Unlike proposed changes in the income tax, this policy helps the 46 percent of all Americans who owe no federal income taxes but who pay a "payroll tax" on practically every dime they earn.

There are other differences as well, and Republicans say their stand is consistent with their goal of long-term tax policies that will spur employment and lend greater certainty to the economy.

"It's always a net positive to let taxpayers keep more of what they earn," says Rep. Jeb Hensarling, "but not all tax relief is created equal for the purposes of helping to get the economy moving again." The Texas lawmaker is on the House GOP leadership team. Is that what they call it now...Leadership? I thought it was cronyism!


The debate is likely to boil up in coming weeks as a special bipartisan committee seeks big deficit reductions and weighs which tax cuts are sacrosanct.

At issue is a tax that the vast majority of workers pay, but many don't recognize because they don't read, or don't understand their pay stubs.(Republicans count on you not knowing about this.) Workers normally pay 6.2 percent of their wages toward a tax designated for Social Security. Their employer pays an equal amount, for a total of 12.4 percent per worker.

As part of a bipartisan spending deal last December, Congress approved  President Obama's request to reduce the workers' share to 4.2 percent for one year; employers' rate did not change. President Obama wants Congress to extend the reduction for an additional year. If not, the rate will return to 6.2 percent on Jan. 1.

President Barack Obama cited the payroll tax in his weekend radio and Internet address Saturday, when he urged Congress to work together on measures that help the economy and create jobs. "There are things we can do right now that will mean more customers for businesses and more jobs across the country. We can cut payroll taxes again, so families have an extra $1,000 to spend," he said.

..Social Security payroll taxes apply only to the first $106,800 of a worker's wages. Therefore, $2,136 is the biggest benefit anyone can gain from the one-year reduction.The great majority of Americans make less than $106,800 a year. Millions of workers pay more in payroll taxes than in federal income taxes.

The 12-month tax reduction will cost the government about $120 billion this year, and a similar amount next year if it's renewed. That worries Rep. David Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, and a member of the House-Senate supercommittee tasked with finding new deficit cuts. Tax reductions, "no matter how well-intended," will push the deficit higher, making the panel's task that much harder, Camp's office said.

But Republican lawmakers haven't always worried about tax cuts increasing the deficit. They led the fight to extend the life of a much bigger tax break: the major 2001 income tax reduction enacted under former President Bush. It was scheduled to expire at the start of this year.President Obama campaigned on a pledge to end the tax break only for the richest Americans, but solid GOP opposition forced him to back down.

Many Republicans are adamant about not raising taxes but largely silent on what it would mean to let the payroll tax break expire.

Republicans cite key differences between the two "temporary" taxes, starting with the fact that the Bush measure had a 10-year life from the start. To stimulate job growth, these lawmakers say, it's better to reduce income tax rates for people and for companies than to extend the payroll tax break.

"We don't need short-term gestures. We need long-term fundamental changes in our tax structure and our regulatory structure that people who create jobs can rely on," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., when asked about the payroll tax matter. This is the same lie they've been telling since President Reagon was in office..Two key words...Deregulation... and trickle down economics....It hasn't created not one job yet!

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., "has never believed that this type of temporary tax relief is the best way to grow the economy," said spokesman Brad Dayspring.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says payroll tax reductions give the economy a short-term boost. But it says the benefit is bigger if employers get the tax break instead of, or along with, workers.

Some top Republicans have taken a wait-and-see approach, expecting the payroll tax issue to be a bargaining chip in the upcoming debt reduction talks.

So Long story short..Here is what this really means...In a round about way...The Republicans don't want you and I, the average consumer and worker to have a tax break...They don't think you and I having a little extra money in our wallets will jump start the economy...What they are really saying is that that extra money would be better served in the coffers of the multi-national corporations and their stockholders and that if these corporations get the money, they will create jobs.  Only they won't...They'll just keep the money,

They'll still send the jobs overseas, where they don't have to pay any benefits to the workers or as high a wage as they would an American worker.  They'll make a profit and still pocket the extra dough...You and I will still be broke or if we have a job, struggling to make ends meet.  It's not their problem...They don't care....

Amazing!!!...And they've said that in a way that the average American won't understand it.. The stupid American will actually think that what they just said is something they will benefit from...But they won't!!! They will have in the long run fallen for the okey doke.  They'll be told by the Republicans, who they voted for and who sold them down the river...that it's all President Obama's fault!  That's what they've been doing..and laughing at how gullible and silly most of us are. They are laughing because they know ,like I have come to know...That most Americans need to be lied to.  They love a fantasy...Truth and more importantly, hard truth's are just too much to swallow.  They can't deal with it!.

Just more double talk...More Republicans talkin out of the side of their faces! And Some of you believing it!

Weekend Humor

Grandma is eighty-eight years old and still drives her own car. She writes:

Dear Grand-daughter,


The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a 'Honk if you love Jesus' bumper sticker.

 I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting.


So, I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper.


Boy, am I glad I did; what an uplifting experience that followed.


I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good he is, and I didn't notice that the light had changed.


It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn't honked, I'd never have noticed.


I found that lots of people love Jesus!


While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy, and then he leaned out of his window and screamed, 'For the love of God!'


'Go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!'


What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus!


Everyone started honking!


I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving people.

I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!


There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a sunny beach.


I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in the air.


I asked my young teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant.


He said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something.


Well, I have never met anyone from Hawaii, so I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign right back.


My grandson burst out laughing.


Why even he was enjoying this religious experience!


A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me.


I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed the light had changed.


So, grinning, I waved at all my brothers and sisters, and drove on through the intersection.


I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again and felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared.


So I slowed the car down, leaned out the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away. Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!


Will write again soon,
Love, Grandma

Tea Anyone?

FACT- The Tea Party's popularity has dropped. Are Americans finally catching on? The Tea Party didn't exactly emerge from the debt ceiling fight smelling like a rose, according to a new CBS/New York Times poll. You know that I always read em.

The movement's unpopularity jumped to 40 percent, up from 29 percent in late April. And House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) now sports what Slate columnist Dave Wiegel calls a "Gingrichian" disapproval rating of 57 percent.

"(It's) a pyhrric victory for Democrats, but I'd bet they'll take it," Dave Wiegel writes.
Of course they will...You take what you can get...But more importantly, you take this discontent and buil on it!

Oh, and who do voters blame for exploding the federal budget deficit? Drum Roll please!The George W. Bush administration, hands down,( No mystery there!) with 44 percent. Fifteen percent apiece said President Obama or Congress. And 10 percent said all of the above. Guess that's why Republicans keep telling us to stop looking in the rearview mirror, huh?

From the Mouth of a Rich Man

Gotta Love Mr. Buffet..Here he is one of the wealthiest Americans and even he agrees that the rich, such as himself should pay their fair share of taxes...This is what he said recently-

"While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks ...

I know well many of the mega-rich and, by and large, they are very decent people. They love America and appreciate the opportunity this country has given them.

 Many have joined the Giving Pledge, promising to give most of their wealth to philanthropy. Most wouldn’t mind being told to pay more in taxes as well, particularly when so many of their fellow citizens are truly suffering.

Twelve members of Congress will soon take on the crucial job of rearranging our country's finances. They've been instructed to devise a plan that reduces the 10-year deficit by at least $1.5 trillion. It's vital, however, that they achieve far more than that.

Americans are rapidly losing faith in the ability of Congress to deal with our country's fiscal problems. Only action that is immediate, real and very substantial will prevent that doubt from morphing into hopelessness. That feeling can create its own reality.

... My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice."



Now.. He said that.. A white male billionaire ..Not Black radical flame throwing me...
All he has done is state what I've been saying over the course of several Blogposts...
I would be interested to know what Eric Cantor and his Tea Party minions think of that.

The President is on the road this week and was telling a crowd of working class folks about "shared sacrifice"....He's preaching to the choir there...The Working Class and The Middle Class know all about sacrifice, shared or whatever..They've been sacrificing...It's the wealthy that haven't been doing the sacrificing...Now that Mr. Buffet has said it and it's not just some Black radical blogger, perhaps it may hold some weight!

Hope springs eternal doesn't it?

An Elvis Story!

No, you're not reading the wrong blog....This is Keith's Space as far as I can tell.  It's been awhile since I've written anything about me....I've mostly been pouring fire on the the right wing, the tea party and republican policy (or lack of ) in general.

Today however, I decided to give them all a break...It is after all the thirty fourth anniversary of his death.  The fact that I remember the day he died and what I was doing really has nothing to do with the fact that a month ago...I toured Graceland in Memphis while on my family vacation...It's just that I have an oft told funny story behind it that I plan to share with you.

It was August 16,1977....I was 19 years old and riding with my father down the highway of South Jersey... I don't know where we were coming back from..but I know we were headed back to Philly and he had his foot through the floor of his 1969 Buick....The roads weren't as improved and sophisticated as they are now and he was cutting through all of these small towns, taking what I suppose were short cuts....

He looked over at me and said "Cut the radio on."  I did and they were playing "Blue Christmas" by Elvis Presley.... We both looked at each other..."Blue Christmas " in the middle of an August Heatwave??

"I'll have a Blue.....


Woo woo woo wooooooooooooooo


Christmas....Without youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." sang Elvis...

We kept driving....Then they played one of my favorites...."Jailhouse Rock"  It was recorded three years before I was born...but I saw the movie on Television one Saturday afternoon....

We kept driving...Now this is significant because  what happened next was a bit phrophetic...They played Elvis's signature song...

"You ainnnn nothin but a hound dog...cryin all da time...


   "You ainnnn nevah caught a rabbit, and you aint no friend of mineeeeee." he sang...

Just then this huge dog that looked like a combonation of Scooby Doo and Marmaduke dashed out into the street in front of my father's speeding car.... His car hit the dog with a huge THUMP! that I'll never forget!!! The dog went flying up in the air and landed in the street behind my father's car, which skidded out of control for a minute.,...

A huge crowd of white people came running out of the woodworks....they were pointing-

"He did it..That guy in that green car!"

My dad ,who was far wiser to the ways of the world than I was then...Floored it!  We took off faster than the Batmobile!!!

I was stunned...I pointed out.... "Heyyyy, you just killed that dog!"

Mt Father looked at me and said-"Do you want to stop and explain things to those people?"

I looked at the crowd that was now running after us and throwing things....I'm pretty sure the word "nigger" was flying off of some of their tongues...I looked at that crowd and I understood my Father's wisdom...And we took off and soon out distanced them...

Surprisingly, there wasn't a cop in sight!   While we were driving an announcement came over the radio-

"In case you haven't heard and have just turned your radios on....Elvis Aaron Pressley, the king of rock and roll was found dead earlier today in his home in Graceland..."


My Father and I looked at each other....Now we understood why they played three Elvis Pressley records straight....We nodded and we drove the rest of the way to Philadelphia without incident.

Neither of us mentioned the incident to my mother and brother and I never repeated the story until the night after my father's funeral in 2002....I don't know why I waited twenty five years to tell the story but it was just something neither one of us ever discussed again.  It was a funny enough story even then when it happened....It's funnier now that I remember it...

Mad Michelle!

"Literally, if we took away the minimum wage—if conceivably it was gone—we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level." ~ Michelle Bachmann

Yeah, that's an actual quote of hers... I have to ask myself...Does she really believe what comes out of her mouth?  Furthermore , does anyone else really believe this?  She is making my entire argument about how stupid these tea party people really are.

So she thinks that if we eliminate the minimum wage...We could eliminate unemployment?  Companies could conceivably hire people and pay them whatever they wanted to.. So everybody would have a job...but everybody wouldn't have a living wage...There are people now, who make slightly above minimum wage who still can't make ends meet.

This is the disconnect I'm talking about.  These scary Tea Party people have no connection to the real world..No connection to real working families..If they did...If she did...She wouldn't dream of making statements like the one she made above...

So I'm asking...Not just African-Americans...I'm asking White Americans...Latino Americans, Asian Americans...Hard working people with families...With dreams of sending your children to college so they can have a future....How can you vote for someone like this?

How can you vote for people who are funded by Billionaires who aren't willing to pay their fair share of taxes?...(Money that would bail the country out of it's present deficit. ) How can you vote for people who hide their responsibility behind the scenes and whose only interest is in lining their pockets?

They aren't interested in creating jobs....They are interested in making profits though.  They are interested in sending jobs overseas and paying slave wages to some foreigner and not worrying about benefits.....They are interested in busting up unions so that workers here can't bargain collectively and thus have little or no say about their wages....That's what they are interested in.

"Paying Someone Minimum Wage is like saying....I would pay you less, but that would be illegal."- Comedian, Chris Rock.

So knowing all of this.....There are people who are still voting republican?? , Still voting for tea party candidates?? Still think someone like "Mad" Michelle Bachman would make a good President??  Really???

Maybe I'm mad!

Weekend Humor

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.


The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.

The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.

Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.

The little girl said, '' Well ,When I get to Heaven I will ask Jonah myself."

The teacher asked, ''What if Jonah didn’t go to Heaven , What if Jonah went to Hell?''

The little girl replied, ''Then will you ask him?''.

Keith's Favorite Quotes

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good."- Author Unknown









PEACE!

Did The Left Go Left?

When I was growing up in the late 60's and early 70's...The Radical Left, The Moderate Civil Rights Movemant, The Anti-Vietnam movemant were all mass grass roots organizations that were manned by passionate people, both Black and White that influenced an entire generation and actually did some good. They ended a war, because of these movemants, we got the civil rights act passed, equal rights for women, and a slew of other measures....These people changed our conversation about sex, race, politics, economics...birth control, everything...

In 2008...We elected the nation's first African-American President, which would seem to be the culmination of the Left's dream right?  Well, with his election...the last vestige of that passion has gone...The pendulum has swung and all of the passion seems to be on the right with the dreaded Tea Party....Where did the Left's passion go?


 On one level, the Tea Party is no more than a front for big-money corporate interests such as the notorious Koch brothers and the hedge fund managers who shower contributions on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

These fat cats' interests are the ones truly served by the Tea Party's refusal to ask the wealthy to pay a far share of the costs of the commonwealth. But on another level, despite all the wrongheadedness of its reactionary populism, the Tea Party is an authentic mass movement with grassroots support and a set of (admittedly wacko) principles that its troops can rally around, remaining unified even in the face of harsh opposition to its nonnegotiable demands. Their relentless determination and refusal to compromise gives them enormous power.You don't defeat a movement like that with conventional politics.

Comedian Bill Mahr joked on his HBO show Real Time the other night that you don't "fight crazy with educated and mild mannered Doctor's and Lawyers and academic types..(Which seem to make up the Left) now of days...You fight crazy with crazy."

He was joking...but he's right...Where is the Rap Brown's of today on the left? Why is every one I see on TV that is passionate about their politics from The Tea Party?

See ,You beat the Tea Party by building a movement of your own -- one that's larger, more unified and uncompromising on principle, while it eschews the self-destructive brinkmanship the Tea Party espoused during the back-and-forth over raising the debt ceiling last week. The aim is to build a new America, not burn the old one to the ground. As Villanova professor Lara M. Brown wrote in the New York Times, "Democracy does not mean having your way. It only means having the opportunity to fight."

Among other things, such a movement would help translate into policy the view of the majority of Americans, who, poll after poll has shown, favor President Obama's balanced approach to solving the nation's debt crisis over the Tea Party's no-new-revenues stance.(That's a fact Tea Partiers...Read the polls!) It would fight hard to protect the most vulnerable people as we address needed reforms of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. It would look more like Dr. King's movement than President Obama's campaign.

That seems to be the goal of such incipient activist groups as the American Dream Movement, founded by Van Jones, who was President Obama's adviser on green jobs until he was forced out under criticism from right-wing pundits, spurned on by who else? The Tea Party and their sympathizers.

"We can learn many important lessons from the recent achievements of the libertarian, populist right," Van Jones wrote in February. "A popular outcry from the left could just as easily shatter the prevailing bipartisan consensus that America is suddenly a poor country that cannot possibly help its people meet our basic needs."

That's the right sentiment for the left to follow, but again, while certainly not knocking Van Jones, it remains to be seen whether a high-profile ex-White House figure like  Mr. Jones is the right person to revive a progressive mass movement. The objective is not to help President Obama; but rather to help the people most in need  and get the country back on track.

We're not going to accomplish it as long as the populist right ,such as the damned Tea Party has cornered the market on passionate political protest. As the leaders of the old civil rights movement used to say, "We need to organize, organize, organize. "That's a lesson the Tea Party didn't forget, and  one we need to relearn and implement.

The Left has got to come back.....I can't take much more of these right wing wackos!

Hip Hop Barbecue???

You know...There was a time when the news was supposed to be bi-partisan...You know, the facts mam, just the facts!  Today, that is all a thing of the past... I wrote a post about how Rupert Murdoch was in trouble because one of his newspapers (and I use the term loosely when describing the now defunct "News of the World") hacked into the private phone lines of several individuals, fishing for juicy news stories.

If you recall, I wrote with glee how  I was glad that the man and his son were under fire and that one of his instruments was being forced to shut down...Well , he also owns FOX News , which I have lambasted ever since I started this blog...and it is because of non-sense like what they published last week on the occassion of
Barack Obama's birthday that I wish that the FCC would uncover some scandal, anything and close them down.

"PRESIDENT'S HIP HOP BARBECUE FAILS TO CREATE NEW JOBS!" (Actual caption on Fox News's website.)

In today's "Racially coded messaging that's so blatant it makes me want to vomit" news, Fox News lists the guests in attendance and the menu ("Dinner: BBQ chicken, ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta, salad. Dessert: apple, peach, huckleberry and cherry pies; chocolate cake") and points out (exclamation point in the original, because this is so damned scandalous) "The president asked everyone to dance -- and they did!" as evidence of the characterization. Oh, and they made sure to blast the event for failing to create jobs (because most non-"hip-hop" birthday parties do?). I can't make this crapola up, and I'm quite honestly still holding out hope that this piece is a joke. I of course know it's not....

The following Dangerous people were guests and their photos were listed prominently-

Charles Barkley, oh my...he's a dangerous radical, Comedian Chris Rock....ohhh myyy...Probably the only true hip hopper in the bunch...Jay Z and his wife, singer Beyonce....Gasp! This is all supposed to be a tongue in cheek code or joke for all of those ignorant Tea Party supporters and fellow travelers who chew tobbaco and smile at each other with every other tooth missing and go -"Uh Huh..see, I told you...He's partying and we aint got no jobs!!!"
(By the way..Actor, Tom Hanks was there..How come he wasn't mentioned ,nor his photo blasted across Fox New's website??? I'm just asking!)

Come on...Black people...If  some white people can't or refuse to see this...At least you can...( or you should) see that this is blatant racism...Blatant disrespect for the man and the office, because of his race (or half of his race, depending on how you look at it.)

All of this was reported for what??  Didn't President Bush have a birthday party? I recall that he did and the Oak Ridge Boys were guests at one of his parties...Was it reported like this?? Was he slammed politically at any of his birthday celebrations during his tenure at the White House?? Was President Clinton, Was  President Reagon??? I think not.  Yet everything this President does...Fox News ,which is blatantly one sided..So one sided that they might as well admit that they are the official news organ of the Republican Party uses everything to slam this President...

I will strangle the next Black Republican (and I do know some) who tells me that the Tea Party is not a racist movemant...It is...and they don't want your black ass..but they'll take your money and support and laugh at you behind your backs -("What a bunch of silly negroes.")Ask Former Republican Party Chairman Steele or is he still in denial?

This is so blatantly racist that they can't hide it...Not one Black person in America should be on board with this...But we have some stupid Black people too...Who think that Uncle Tomism is a way(for them) to get ahead.

So when Sarah Palin's birthday comes up ....or Ann Coulter's...I want to see equal coverage of their celebrity guests...and I want to see if their birthday party's create some new jobs.. Fair is Fair, right?