The Devil is on my shoulder again.
I love to laugh. And Liv. And Let Liv. You will (should) enjoy this. I got it looking over the shoulder of one of my Key West friends…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0MxsQnWRX0
Monday, November 30, 2009
Have Hope
At Unity yesterday Carmen preached about having hope. She was very convincing about how having a positive outlook is a winning philosphy even when what you hope for doesn't happen.
As ususal, she was speaking from her heart. Her husband was recently discovered to have two different forms of cancer and is undergoing treatment for both. I understand one is brain cancer. I should buy the recording of her message and keep it to listen to each time I plumment downward on my flight through life (and from this life).
Scientists are doing experiments that could anihilate the globe, the globe is warming and we are going to drown, the terrorists are going to bomb us, the turtles will be extinct, children are starving, God is dead... dadah, dadah. And I am poor again.
So, 'A Course In Miracles', continue doing your thing for me. Keep me positive. Keep me giving myself hope. Because I sure keep messing up. And I defintely prefer pipe dreams to nightmares.
God Blesses Us, Namaste', Allahu Akbar and Shalom.
As ususal, she was speaking from her heart. Her husband was recently discovered to have two different forms of cancer and is undergoing treatment for both. I understand one is brain cancer. I should buy the recording of her message and keep it to listen to each time I plumment downward on my flight through life (and from this life).
Scientists are doing experiments that could anihilate the globe, the globe is warming and we are going to drown, the terrorists are going to bomb us, the turtles will be extinct, children are starving, God is dead... dadah, dadah. And I am poor again.
So, 'A Course In Miracles', continue doing your thing for me. Keep me positive. Keep me giving myself hope. Because I sure keep messing up. And I defintely prefer pipe dreams to nightmares.
God Blesses Us, Namaste', Allahu Akbar and Shalom.
Junk Science! Scientists Are Angry and May Kill Us!
I read about a new record being set by a new particle accelerator (LHC)that is competing with the older one (CERN) to be the fastest and enable the best damn particle crashes ever. This whole particle acceleration thing is into Quantum Physics, a scientific New Age where the science seems more like it was taken from an LSD trip; but it’s for real.
Angry Einstein “fractal & practical” guys are claiming these Quantum Physics woo-woo guys are full of crap. Threatening civilization with their dangerous experiments using particle accelerators.
Like the Conservatives ranting against the Liberals. Screaming at each other because what is going on today is changing things faster than we have time to evaluate-before they have dire consequences. Sound familiar?
So for fun, I took this Einstein guy's rant and his warnings against the quantum theory guys; tried to understand it and simplify it. Edited it. Here’s how he sounded to me:
“CERN Misinforms Mankind”…
(THEM GUYS) The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a quark factory that will deconfine millions of quarks, the strongest, most attractive particles of the Universe. They carry the Atom’s mass, caged inside their nuclei. 99% of LHC’s production will consist on superfluid Quark condensates, a new state of matter, defined by Einstein, in which Quarks fusion together, creating hyper-dense, attractive tornado-like vortices with properties similar to black holes.
(US GUYS) “Astro-physicists fear that if enough quarks are pegged together in one of those condensates, they can trigger a mass-reaction that would attract all the other quarks of the Earth, transforming our planet into a dense pulsar or black hole. Because in Nature all what is possible happens (Gell Mann’s Totalitarian principle), Quark stars should happen at LHC… risks for Earth of a quark factory in this planet
.
(THEM GUYS) “This is a clear case of industrial corruption. But the Company (LHC) voices out ‘ad hominem’ campaigns against those who denounced the crime, voices out false statements…and makes marketing campaigns on fringe theories pumped up as the ‘meaning of it all’ (the god’ s particle, which Nambu, last year nobel prize proved to be self-similar to the already discovered top quark, hence non-existent…the big-bang hype, a discredited theory, which today serious ‘avant-garde’ scientists have dischared.
“…this ‘Quark Cannon’ is just a relic of the Cold War industry of Nuclear Devices, ‘reconverted’ to spureous civil use; a weapon that menaces for the first time in history the survival of our species and is halting the true evolution of Cosmology, by limiting resources for telescopes, by lobbying against the spread of the more advanced fractal theory of the Universe and Einstein’s work, which contradicts the outdated musings of Mr. Higgs and Mr. Hawking.
(US GUYS) “Indeed, Fractal Relativity has proved that Einstein’s relativity not quantum theorists have properly defined Mass ….Mass is therefore the frequency of a cyclical vortex, a clock of time that carries the information of the Universe, as Nobel Prize Wilczek has proved ad nauseam. Those are the true models that are advancing cosmology with pen and paper, all of them based in Einstein’s work
(THEM GUYS) “On the other side quantum fantaphysics, proposes the absurd Higgs Mechanism according to which an invisible ‘particle’ is ‘foreseen’ by other particles who ‘come to meet Higgs’ as if ‘it were a celebrity’ (sic), attracting them. This is truly nonsense, and so Nobel prize weinbgerg justly calls Higgs the ‘toilet particle’, to be flushed down into one of Einstein’s spacetime vortex as the Earth might be next year.
(TED MUSES) It’s interesting to me that older, “practical”, conservative scientific thought is sort of denying any ‘creationist- door-opener’ Quantum findings. Findings of mysterious, unexplainable happenings going on that might possibly influence the anti-creationist argument. Progressives suggesting there possibly could be a creator? Now there’s a flip-flop!)
Back to the article…
(US GUYS) "People do not understand that CERN’s quantum entropy physicists deny Einstein’s work, despite being the foundation of modern cosmology because in Einstein’s models upgraded today by fractal Relativity the risks of extinction are close to 100%.
“As today because of those ‘ad hominem’ campaigns, serious scientists trying to alert mankind can no longer explain those risks in mainstream magazines and the right to Freedom of Speech has been impeded. Still in http://www.lhcdefence.org you can see a documentary with the other side of CERN. Many lives are at risk, real lives of real people, as never before.
“Today mankind has no defense because the judiciary, politicians and the press who should check and denounce the excesses of companies and governments are not doing their job of warning the population and so private individuals have to step forward, obviously with far less efficiency as our suits against this company which judges have refused to accept, have shown. Time is running out to take seriously the biggest danger for Global Safety of the year 2010.
(THEM GUYS) “This machine-weapon MUST be halted till the theoretical dispute between quantum theorists and relativity theorists is solved, as all seems to indicate in favor of Einstein; which will mean the quark factory will have to be closed if we want to survive and advance further our knowledge of the cosmos, on the path the true master of physics, NOT a machine but a HUMAN MIND showed us.
“The so-called toilet particle has been the alibi for the construction biggest, most dangerous weapon since Teller tried to sell a Doomsday giant H-bomb to blow up the entire Soviet Union - manufactured by his own company at stratospheric costs, with the approval of ‘all’ the Nuclear Physicists’ community. Eisenhower called Krushev to stop that madness. We need a new Eisenhower to stop ‘cuckoo nuclear physicists’ from trying once again to blow up the Earth with the excuse of knowledge. Mr. Rompuy and Mr. Obama perhaps could make a change ‘we can believe in’ and deserve a Nobel Prize received in the past with an action from the future.
“Recently ‘quantum physicists’ proved with their nonsense maths that the future was interfering with LHC. It is ‘the future of science’ what is warning mankind against an obsolete machine that menaces the future of all of us.
(TED ENDS WITH) A bit heavy for one of my blogposts, but I hope you will just get my jist. The familiar sounds and arguments. And will leave a comment. Talk To Ted !
FULL ARTICLE: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/11/lhc-sets-new-world-record/
Angry Einstein “fractal & practical” guys are claiming these Quantum Physics woo-woo guys are full of crap. Threatening civilization with their dangerous experiments using particle accelerators.
Like the Conservatives ranting against the Liberals. Screaming at each other because what is going on today is changing things faster than we have time to evaluate-before they have dire consequences. Sound familiar?
So for fun, I took this Einstein guy's rant and his warnings against the quantum theory guys; tried to understand it and simplify it. Edited it. Here’s how he sounded to me:
“CERN Misinforms Mankind”…
(THEM GUYS) The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a quark factory that will deconfine millions of quarks, the strongest, most attractive particles of the Universe. They carry the Atom’s mass, caged inside their nuclei. 99% of LHC’s production will consist on superfluid Quark condensates, a new state of matter, defined by Einstein, in which Quarks fusion together, creating hyper-dense, attractive tornado-like vortices with properties similar to black holes.
(US GUYS) “Astro-physicists fear that if enough quarks are pegged together in one of those condensates, they can trigger a mass-reaction that would attract all the other quarks of the Earth, transforming our planet into a dense pulsar or black hole. Because in Nature all what is possible happens (Gell Mann’s Totalitarian principle), Quark stars should happen at LHC… risks for Earth of a quark factory in this planet
.
(THEM GUYS) “This is a clear case of industrial corruption. But the Company (LHC) voices out ‘ad hominem’ campaigns against those who denounced the crime, voices out false statements…and makes marketing campaigns on fringe theories pumped up as the ‘meaning of it all’ (the god’ s particle, which Nambu, last year nobel prize proved to be self-similar to the already discovered top quark, hence non-existent…the big-bang hype, a discredited theory, which today serious ‘avant-garde’ scientists have dischared.
“…this ‘Quark Cannon’ is just a relic of the Cold War industry of Nuclear Devices, ‘reconverted’ to spureous civil use; a weapon that menaces for the first time in history the survival of our species and is halting the true evolution of Cosmology, by limiting resources for telescopes, by lobbying against the spread of the more advanced fractal theory of the Universe and Einstein’s work, which contradicts the outdated musings of Mr. Higgs and Mr. Hawking.
(US GUYS) “Indeed, Fractal Relativity has proved that Einstein’s relativity not quantum theorists have properly defined Mass ….Mass is therefore the frequency of a cyclical vortex, a clock of time that carries the information of the Universe, as Nobel Prize Wilczek has proved ad nauseam. Those are the true models that are advancing cosmology with pen and paper, all of them based in Einstein’s work
(THEM GUYS) “On the other side quantum fantaphysics, proposes the absurd Higgs Mechanism according to which an invisible ‘particle’ is ‘foreseen’ by other particles who ‘come to meet Higgs’ as if ‘it were a celebrity’ (sic), attracting them. This is truly nonsense, and so Nobel prize weinbgerg justly calls Higgs the ‘toilet particle’, to be flushed down into one of Einstein’s spacetime vortex as the Earth might be next year.
(TED MUSES) It’s interesting to me that older, “practical”, conservative scientific thought is sort of denying any ‘creationist- door-opener’ Quantum findings. Findings of mysterious, unexplainable happenings going on that might possibly influence the anti-creationist argument. Progressives suggesting there possibly could be a creator? Now there’s a flip-flop!)
Back to the article…
(US GUYS) "People do not understand that CERN’s quantum entropy physicists deny Einstein’s work, despite being the foundation of modern cosmology because in Einstein’s models upgraded today by fractal Relativity the risks of extinction are close to 100%.
“As today because of those ‘ad hominem’ campaigns, serious scientists trying to alert mankind can no longer explain those risks in mainstream magazines and the right to Freedom of Speech has been impeded. Still in http://www.lhcdefence.org you can see a documentary with the other side of CERN. Many lives are at risk, real lives of real people, as never before.
“Today mankind has no defense because the judiciary, politicians and the press who should check and denounce the excesses of companies and governments are not doing their job of warning the population and so private individuals have to step forward, obviously with far less efficiency as our suits against this company which judges have refused to accept, have shown. Time is running out to take seriously the biggest danger for Global Safety of the year 2010.
(THEM GUYS) “This machine-weapon MUST be halted till the theoretical dispute between quantum theorists and relativity theorists is solved, as all seems to indicate in favor of Einstein; which will mean the quark factory will have to be closed if we want to survive and advance further our knowledge of the cosmos, on the path the true master of physics, NOT a machine but a HUMAN MIND showed us.
“The so-called toilet particle has been the alibi for the construction biggest, most dangerous weapon since Teller tried to sell a Doomsday giant H-bomb to blow up the entire Soviet Union - manufactured by his own company at stratospheric costs, with the approval of ‘all’ the Nuclear Physicists’ community. Eisenhower called Krushev to stop that madness. We need a new Eisenhower to stop ‘cuckoo nuclear physicists’ from trying once again to blow up the Earth with the excuse of knowledge. Mr. Rompuy and Mr. Obama perhaps could make a change ‘we can believe in’ and deserve a Nobel Prize received in the past with an action from the future.
“Recently ‘quantum physicists’ proved with their nonsense maths that the future was interfering with LHC. It is ‘the future of science’ what is warning mankind against an obsolete machine that menaces the future of all of us.
(TED ENDS WITH) A bit heavy for one of my blogposts, but I hope you will just get my jist. The familiar sounds and arguments. And will leave a comment. Talk To Ted !
FULL ARTICLE: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/11/lhc-sets-new-world-record/
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Big Tobacco Wants Marijuana?
Reading some snippits lately that suggest the current pro-weed stuff is coming from Big Tobacco, who sees this delicacy as an ideal replacement for it's killer crop.
My own well reasoned position is that individual states need to vote on two separate issues. One, should maryjane be available to true medical patients like cancer victims? and Two, do states want to make the recreational use of marijuana legal? Conflating the two issues is what is causing the problems.
Here is an article about the subject. I think Big Tobacco was behind it. Did this doctor really take time to write it without any outside help or incouragment? I shortened and edited it:
Salem-News.com - November 29, 2009 - 2:01 am
Medical Marijuana: A California Success Story
Dr. Phillip Leveque, Salem-News.com
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - California was the first state which legalized marijuana for medical use in 1996 by way of an initiative legal process started by voters' petitioning, and has the most patients with 350,000.
Apparently the legislators were so shocked by the common people's effrontery they were paralyzed. No so the scotch drinking police and sheriffs - they howled like banshees, and have seemingly done everything they could think of to reduce or restrict their highly efficacious medicine.
The various cities and counties of California are in a schizophrenic stand-off about what to do about legally sanctioned marijuana use and dispensaries, (currently there are about 200) where marijuana and even hashish, (a concentrate) can be purchased by patients having a letter from a physician giving them approval for its use.
About half of the localities say its OK, others harass, close and confiscate medicine and money. The DEA and some local cops are going frenetic. They even raid legal grow sites. At the same time, the Mexican Mafia and others are farming it wherever they can, usually in remote national forest areas.
As this is written a plantation in northern Idaho was raided. It had 14,000 plants with a street value of $60 million. It is estimated the marijuana crop is the financially most important in the Unites States, and the cops are trying to stop it?
The cops with General Barry McCaffrey were working with the boards of Medical Examiners to harass physicians who are writing approval letters for sick patients. Many of the prominent physicians have been charged with violating the Standards of Medical Practice Act, but no one knows what the standards are.
One of the worst examples was a DEA agents' raid at a Santa Cruz cannabis using hospice where elderly disabled patients were handcuffed to their beds while the agents devastated the gardens and patient's rooms.
The local mayor dispensed marijuana on city hall steps the next day, in protest.
Despite all this, there are about 30 California physicians who openly advertise their services and some have as many as 19,000 patients though most are in the low two thousands.
Eleven states have some semblance of legal medical marijuana but individual state's rules and regulations are as varied as the state's geography.
It appears that Oregon has the most successful program per capita, but the regulations appear to be the most rigorous because physician and patient records are absolutely legally protected, neither the Board of Medical Examiners nor the police or district attorneys can snoop. Apparently this is not the case in California where police pose as fake patients with fake medical records are incessantly harassing the known medical marijuana physicians.
In the meantime, more and more patients are getting more and more doctors to sign their applications in all medical marijuana states.
THE FULL ARTICLE: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/may232007/leveque_ca_med_pot_52307.php
My own well reasoned position is that individual states need to vote on two separate issues. One, should maryjane be available to true medical patients like cancer victims? and Two, do states want to make the recreational use of marijuana legal? Conflating the two issues is what is causing the problems.
Here is an article about the subject. I think Big Tobacco was behind it. Did this doctor really take time to write it without any outside help or incouragment? I shortened and edited it:
Salem-News.com - November 29, 2009 - 2:01 am
Medical Marijuana: A California Success Story
Dr. Phillip Leveque, Salem-News.com
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - California was the first state which legalized marijuana for medical use in 1996 by way of an initiative legal process started by voters' petitioning, and has the most patients with 350,000.
Apparently the legislators were so shocked by the common people's effrontery they were paralyzed. No so the scotch drinking police and sheriffs - they howled like banshees, and have seemingly done everything they could think of to reduce or restrict their highly efficacious medicine.
The various cities and counties of California are in a schizophrenic stand-off about what to do about legally sanctioned marijuana use and dispensaries, (currently there are about 200) where marijuana and even hashish, (a concentrate) can be purchased by patients having a letter from a physician giving them approval for its use.
About half of the localities say its OK, others harass, close and confiscate medicine and money. The DEA and some local cops are going frenetic. They even raid legal grow sites. At the same time, the Mexican Mafia and others are farming it wherever they can, usually in remote national forest areas.
As this is written a plantation in northern Idaho was raided. It had 14,000 plants with a street value of $60 million. It is estimated the marijuana crop is the financially most important in the Unites States, and the cops are trying to stop it?
The cops with General Barry McCaffrey were working with the boards of Medical Examiners to harass physicians who are writing approval letters for sick patients. Many of the prominent physicians have been charged with violating the Standards of Medical Practice Act, but no one knows what the standards are.
One of the worst examples was a DEA agents' raid at a Santa Cruz cannabis using hospice where elderly disabled patients were handcuffed to their beds while the agents devastated the gardens and patient's rooms.
The local mayor dispensed marijuana on city hall steps the next day, in protest.
Despite all this, there are about 30 California physicians who openly advertise their services and some have as many as 19,000 patients though most are in the low two thousands.
Eleven states have some semblance of legal medical marijuana but individual state's rules and regulations are as varied as the state's geography.
It appears that Oregon has the most successful program per capita, but the regulations appear to be the most rigorous because physician and patient records are absolutely legally protected, neither the Board of Medical Examiners nor the police or district attorneys can snoop. Apparently this is not the case in California where police pose as fake patients with fake medical records are incessantly harassing the known medical marijuana physicians.
In the meantime, more and more patients are getting more and more doctors to sign their applications in all medical marijuana states.
THE FULL ARTICLE: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/may232007/leveque_ca_med_pot_52307.php
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Death Wishes
My Dad was full of Pennsylvania Dutch common sense. When my great Aunt Zoe died and left a sizeable estate (she herself had accumulated it from her sisters, great aunts Maude and Ottie)…to her great nieces and nephews. Dad came up with a good system for keeping the peace when it came to dividing the estate. I want to share it with you:
THE SYSTEM: He hired an auctioneer to use to itemize and sell everything. We then got an itinerary list with appraised price estimates for all the stuff. (I have used this technique twice myself. I used a garage sale expert one time and an estate appraiser another to itemize and price the goodies.)
Second, since the only two heirs divvying up my Dad's share of the loot were my sister and I, we tossed a coin to see who would get first pick from the auctioneers itinerary list. The other would get second pick and we then continued alternating picks until we picked all the stuff we each wanted-AND HERE’S THE KEY-and were willing to pay for.
The stuff we wanted was set aside and not offered at the auction.
The auction was held.
The total cost of our selection of goodies came out of our share of the auction proceeds. Right off the top. Pop deducted the total of appraised value of the stuff we took, then deducted these amounts from our shares of the proceeds of the auction.
THE VULTURES: Somehow every heir and many non-heirs just happen to place great sentimental value and really want something in particular from dead old HoosieWatsis-Until faced with the fact they will need to pay fair market value to get it. The amount of demands being made on the Executor for the very expensive stuff drops way down!
ABOUT EXECUTORS: My Aunts had not wanted any trees cut down from the summer cottage, they wanted the Phildelphia town house to stay in the family forever, they wanted this they wanted that, and put it all in their will; thinking that by leaving their stuff to the children of their relatives they would be sure their wishes were honored. Duhhh!
I have been an estate executor several times. I use my Dad's System when the Senior Heirs let me: Develop an itinerary, Establish a market price for everything, Give heirs, etc. the ability to purchase what they really want, Then sell the rest, deduct their share and distribute the balances. It really works well.
EXECUTORS: What doesn’t work is putting your requests and bequests in your will and making a Family Member your Executor. Your requests and bequests will almost always be modified or ignored by the Family Member Executor who will have his/her own opinions about who should get what, and the Senior Relatives will threat the executor with reprisals if he doesn’t ignore the will and do what they say. I was involved in two different instances where a will was so controversial it was just thrown away and forgotten about.
This application of “Reasonable Executor Judgement” often occurs even when funeral arrangements are specified in a living will document, a personal note from the deceased, or in the will itself. It is rare a Family Member Executor gets sued about his fiduciary responsibilities..
How many times do you think a deceased who requests there be no viewing gets their wish? They want to save the estate money. They don’t want people to remember them looking like this…”Just use a picture of me when on my wedding day”.. Forgetabout it. There will be a viewing. We need to get together and talk about the good and, in the hallway of the morgue, the bad about you.
SOLUTION: So don’t waste your time Geezers and Geezetts, just writing down what you want to happen and thinking it will. The game is 'Executor Take All' and the only safe way to handle your estate-one that is sure to be resisted by your loved ones…Select An Attorney to be the Executor of your will and give him/her you will and last wishes.
I really am anti-attorney, but you do what you have to do.
This advice is to die for...Pass It On.
THE SYSTEM: He hired an auctioneer to use to itemize and sell everything. We then got an itinerary list with appraised price estimates for all the stuff. (I have used this technique twice myself. I used a garage sale expert one time and an estate appraiser another to itemize and price the goodies.)
Second, since the only two heirs divvying up my Dad's share of the loot were my sister and I, we tossed a coin to see who would get first pick from the auctioneers itinerary list. The other would get second pick and we then continued alternating picks until we picked all the stuff we each wanted-AND HERE’S THE KEY-and were willing to pay for.
The stuff we wanted was set aside and not offered at the auction.
The auction was held.
The total cost of our selection of goodies came out of our share of the auction proceeds. Right off the top. Pop deducted the total of appraised value of the stuff we took, then deducted these amounts from our shares of the proceeds of the auction.
THE VULTURES: Somehow every heir and many non-heirs just happen to place great sentimental value and really want something in particular from dead old HoosieWatsis-Until faced with the fact they will need to pay fair market value to get it. The amount of demands being made on the Executor for the very expensive stuff drops way down!
ABOUT EXECUTORS: My Aunts had not wanted any trees cut down from the summer cottage, they wanted the Phildelphia town house to stay in the family forever, they wanted this they wanted that, and put it all in their will; thinking that by leaving their stuff to the children of their relatives they would be sure their wishes were honored. Duhhh!
I have been an estate executor several times. I use my Dad's System when the Senior Heirs let me: Develop an itinerary, Establish a market price for everything, Give heirs, etc. the ability to purchase what they really want, Then sell the rest, deduct their share and distribute the balances. It really works well.
EXECUTORS: What doesn’t work is putting your requests and bequests in your will and making a Family Member your Executor. Your requests and bequests will almost always be modified or ignored by the Family Member Executor who will have his/her own opinions about who should get what, and the Senior Relatives will threat the executor with reprisals if he doesn’t ignore the will and do what they say. I was involved in two different instances where a will was so controversial it was just thrown away and forgotten about.
This application of “Reasonable Executor Judgement” often occurs even when funeral arrangements are specified in a living will document, a personal note from the deceased, or in the will itself. It is rare a Family Member Executor gets sued about his fiduciary responsibilities..
How many times do you think a deceased who requests there be no viewing gets their wish? They want to save the estate money. They don’t want people to remember them looking like this…”Just use a picture of me when on my wedding day”.. Forgetabout it. There will be a viewing. We need to get together and talk about the good and, in the hallway of the morgue, the bad about you.
SOLUTION: So don’t waste your time Geezers and Geezetts, just writing down what you want to happen and thinking it will. The game is 'Executor Take All' and the only safe way to handle your estate-one that is sure to be resisted by your loved ones…Select An Attorney to be the Executor of your will and give him/her you will and last wishes.
I really am anti-attorney, but you do what you have to do.
This advice is to die for...Pass It On.
More Old People Die in December
I read that someplace a few years ago and have been watching the December Obits ever since. It seems to be true... I hope it’s not me this December!
It’s an interesting topic for speculation: cold weather and snow shoveling; sadness thinking about holidays past and memories of loved ones now gone causes depression and reduces your immune system; flu season; no money for Christmas presents and you need an excuse for not giving or giving less so you check out instead. Car accidents on icy roads.
Many causes seem to relate to the physical effects of cold weather. But Florida has their share of departing geriatrics. Mental factors play havoc with immune systems.
Anyway, the situation raises hell with families. They get over the loss of the elderly loved one in a reasonable amount of time. But the animosities spawned over who gets what loot from the estate last for years and years. Brothers and Sisters want to kill each other over who gets what. That will be my next post!
I’m getting morbidly depressed writing about this . Cheer me up. Write me an uplifting comment about why its great to be old and dying.
It’s an interesting topic for speculation: cold weather and snow shoveling; sadness thinking about holidays past and memories of loved ones now gone causes depression and reduces your immune system; flu season; no money for Christmas presents and you need an excuse for not giving or giving less so you check out instead. Car accidents on icy roads.
Many causes seem to relate to the physical effects of cold weather. But Florida has their share of departing geriatrics. Mental factors play havoc with immune systems.
Anyway, the situation raises hell with families. They get over the loss of the elderly loved one in a reasonable amount of time. But the animosities spawned over who gets what loot from the estate last for years and years. Brothers and Sisters want to kill each other over who gets what. That will be my next post!
I’m getting morbidly depressed writing about this . Cheer me up. Write me an uplifting comment about why its great to be old and dying.
Friday, November 27, 2009
The Messiah Returns! I’ll Be There!
My wife usually participates with the large group of over one hundred plus quality singers who present excerpts from Handel’s Messiah in St. Augustine every year. It’s one of the more popular Christmas Season events in this charming city just thirty minutes to the north of Palm Coast. She couldn't this year, but I will still be there when it happens.
The city lit up all its Christmas lights this week. The horse and carriage tours are stalling car traffic all over the city. But who cares! (If you can’t visit during the Christmas season, tours of the neat “Old Jail” are always available. That’s another very popular go-see.)
Flagler College, a high quality and high cost liberal arts college is right in the middle of the city so you encounter a good mix of both youth squanderers and old geezers glazed and gazing on the walking mall, getting great home made ice cream; some toking, some talking.
My son and his wife do a bed-and-breakfast thing in St. Auggie regularly. And they only live 40 minutes away! Escape from the kids. We babysit.
Here is a website with one of the most comprehensive schedules of events…
http://www.getaway4florida.com/nights/events.php
And here are the dates and times for this year’s event:
“HANDEL'S MESSIAH
The St. Augustine Community Choir presents their annual performance of excerpts from Handel's Messiah and other Christmas holiday music at the St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica, located at 38 Cathedral Place in St. Augustine. Presentations are at 8 p.m Saturday December 12th and at 2 p.m Sunday December 13th. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.
Phone: 904.824.2806”
The city lit up all its Christmas lights this week. The horse and carriage tours are stalling car traffic all over the city. But who cares! (If you can’t visit during the Christmas season, tours of the neat “Old Jail” are always available. That’s another very popular go-see.)
Flagler College, a high quality and high cost liberal arts college is right in the middle of the city so you encounter a good mix of both youth squanderers and old geezers glazed and gazing on the walking mall, getting great home made ice cream; some toking, some talking.
My son and his wife do a bed-and-breakfast thing in St. Auggie regularly. And they only live 40 minutes away! Escape from the kids. We babysit.
Here is a website with one of the most comprehensive schedules of events…
http://www.getaway4florida.com/nights/events.php
And here are the dates and times for this year’s event:
“HANDEL'S MESSIAH
The St. Augustine Community Choir presents their annual performance of excerpts from Handel's Messiah and other Christmas holiday music at the St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica, located at 38 Cathedral Place in St. Augustine. Presentations are at 8 p.m Saturday December 12th and at 2 p.m Sunday December 13th. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.
Phone: 904.824.2806”
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Will Black Friday be Good Friday?
When I worked in NYC in the 60's the Jewish retailers were delighted to promote Christmas. The Fifth Avenue storefronts were spectacular. The Rockefeller Christmas tree brought in visitors with American Express credit cards and their unlimited lines of credit.
Money was spent (gift wrapping cost extra). Everyone was eager to participate in this Judeo/Christian tradition. Bloomingdales was an international attraction. A trip to FAO Schwarz was really a trip.
Today the most important shopping period of the year starts with Black Friday at Costco, Wal-Mart’s and Best Buy. You can't even find an independent record store anymore. Our gelt is going overseas to China. Once American Corporations are now international corporations and who knows where our dollars wind up. Christmas Overtime pay is now Holiday Part-Time pay...if you can even find that.
Political Correctness has castrated product marketing and promotion. The result is consumer revolts and boycotts.
And now it has infected Thanksgiving. I got one note from Barak and one from Michelle today. "God" had been redacted. Probably by chief politico Rob "Emmanuel". They just "gave thanks..." To no one in particular; they just threw it out there. "We give thanks".
And that is supposed to mean something? Maybe the pardoned White House turkey doesn't have enough brains to know who to give thanks to, but the White House turkey who wrote the emails should have been able to find something more profound for our President to say...someone to thank. Like maybe the God of our nation's founders-whose praises are carved on all those buildings in our Capitol?
Well, Wal-Mart will be open at 4am on Black Friday. That will make all their Chinese suppliers even richer. Until our dollar crashes and burns.
The "Christmas vs. Holidays" street fights will begin. And Americans will stay home reading unemployment ads and letters advising them their Visa credit line has been reduced or terminated. Maybe sales for this critical retail selling season won't tank. But I think they will.
We Americans seem to be joining the Kamikaze pilots and Muslim suicide bombers in that we have adopted an emotional commitment to Economic Suicide in the name of One-Worldness and Political Correctness. Our bleeding hearts are bleeding our national treasure.
Give Thanks and Have A Happy!
Money was spent (gift wrapping cost extra). Everyone was eager to participate in this Judeo/Christian tradition. Bloomingdales was an international attraction. A trip to FAO Schwarz was really a trip.
Today the most important shopping period of the year starts with Black Friday at Costco, Wal-Mart’s and Best Buy. You can't even find an independent record store anymore. Our gelt is going overseas to China. Once American Corporations are now international corporations and who knows where our dollars wind up. Christmas Overtime pay is now Holiday Part-Time pay...if you can even find that.
Political Correctness has castrated product marketing and promotion. The result is consumer revolts and boycotts.
And now it has infected Thanksgiving. I got one note from Barak and one from Michelle today. "God" had been redacted. Probably by chief politico Rob "Emmanuel". They just "gave thanks..." To no one in particular; they just threw it out there. "We give thanks".
And that is supposed to mean something? Maybe the pardoned White House turkey doesn't have enough brains to know who to give thanks to, but the White House turkey who wrote the emails should have been able to find something more profound for our President to say...someone to thank. Like maybe the God of our nation's founders-whose praises are carved on all those buildings in our Capitol?
Well, Wal-Mart will be open at 4am on Black Friday. That will make all their Chinese suppliers even richer. Until our dollar crashes and burns.
The "Christmas vs. Holidays" street fights will begin. And Americans will stay home reading unemployment ads and letters advising them their Visa credit line has been reduced or terminated. Maybe sales for this critical retail selling season won't tank. But I think they will.
We Americans seem to be joining the Kamikaze pilots and Muslim suicide bombers in that we have adopted an emotional commitment to Economic Suicide in the name of One-Worldness and Political Correctness. Our bleeding hearts are bleeding our national treasure.
Give Thanks and Have A Happy!
Palm Coast Golf Course Homes; Bargins and Bombs
GoToby has a good column on what is happening to Golf Courses across the country:
https://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&zx=1xrfpfy7y8ks3&shva=1#inbox/1252c19451c912c7
It links to this full article inn the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fi-golf22-2009nov22,0,3028616,full.story
We have that situation here in Palm Coast with our Matanzas Woods golf course. Property on this and in The Conservatory can be bought for a song because the future of both is unknown.
Whereas, houses and condos on the newly opened municipal course should jump quickly in value. The course is already getting lots of play and publicity and the city owns it and wants it as a showpiece.
I think a well placed investment in the right golf course lot, condo, or house right now could be a good move with realtively low risk and carrying costs and possibly real good long term gain. Better than holding dollars. Easier than picking the right stocks. Less speculative than gold. Offer cash. Plan to hold ithe property for 2-5 years.
You need local knowledge, though. Talk with a dedicated Buyers Agent. Talk To Ted!
https://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&zx=1xrfpfy7y8ks3&shva=1#inbox/1252c19451c912c7
It links to this full article inn the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fi-golf22-2009nov22,0,3028616,full.story
We have that situation here in Palm Coast with our Matanzas Woods golf course. Property on this and in The Conservatory can be bought for a song because the future of both is unknown.
Whereas, houses and condos on the newly opened municipal course should jump quickly in value. The course is already getting lots of play and publicity and the city owns it and wants it as a showpiece.
I think a well placed investment in the right golf course lot, condo, or house right now could be a good move with realtively low risk and carrying costs and possibly real good long term gain. Better than holding dollars. Easier than picking the right stocks. Less speculative than gold. Offer cash. Plan to hold ithe property for 2-5 years.
You need local knowledge, though. Talk with a dedicated Buyers Agent. Talk To Ted!
Calvin’s Fallen Angels, an Absence of Light, or an Angry God?
What is it that seduces my mind? Leads me off into thinking and saying and doing and becoming a me I don’t want to be?
Is there a Satan like most Christians say? Or is it an Absence of the Light of God, a wandering off the Path-like they teach in A Course In Miracles? Or is there an angry and mean side of God? Like in Old Testament and Islamic teachings?
I don’t know what that dark thing is we struggle with. That thing we call evil. It, too, is behind my veil of knowing. Best I can do is listen when the small voice inside me whispers. Be alert when I taste too much sugar in my coffee. Question when I feel too much anticipation. If I am lucky, someone me will tell me directly I am crossing the line…and I will know they are right.
I am constantly plagued with demons. They persist like a chronic cough, Sometimes, like tonight, they pull an “I Gotcha”, influence me to do wrong; then keep me from sleeping. keep me rerunning a ‘why did I” tape. Keep me rethinking about my venture off the path.
Why did I? The Devil Made Me Do It!
You think there is no “Allah”? That my god is an invention of my psyche? Well let me bear testimony that my invention works. Powerful, this thing called Prayer. Meditation. Allowing Him In. My God-given internal GPS system may not always give me the directions I expect. I may not always hear it, but I trust it. It works. I ask a “Holy Spirit” for help and help is always provided.
I am sleepy. Back to bed. Will look again in the Mirror tomorrow for who I really want to be. Re-pledge my allegiance to my Good God. And try to raise my awareness of my demons, gleefully waiting to entrap me again. And they will.
Is there a Satan like most Christians say? Or is it an Absence of the Light of God, a wandering off the Path-like they teach in A Course In Miracles? Or is there an angry and mean side of God? Like in Old Testament and Islamic teachings?
I don’t know what that dark thing is we struggle with. That thing we call evil. It, too, is behind my veil of knowing. Best I can do is listen when the small voice inside me whispers. Be alert when I taste too much sugar in my coffee. Question when I feel too much anticipation. If I am lucky, someone me will tell me directly I am crossing the line…and I will know they are right.
I am constantly plagued with demons. They persist like a chronic cough, Sometimes, like tonight, they pull an “I Gotcha”, influence me to do wrong; then keep me from sleeping. keep me rerunning a ‘why did I” tape. Keep me rethinking about my venture off the path.
Why did I? The Devil Made Me Do It!
You think there is no “Allah”? That my god is an invention of my psyche? Well let me bear testimony that my invention works. Powerful, this thing called Prayer. Meditation. Allowing Him In. My God-given internal GPS system may not always give me the directions I expect. I may not always hear it, but I trust it. It works. I ask a “Holy Spirit” for help and help is always provided.
I am sleepy. Back to bed. Will look again in the Mirror tomorrow for who I really want to be. Re-pledge my allegiance to my Good God. And try to raise my awareness of my demons, gleefully waiting to entrap me again. And they will.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
My God, Whose Sand Is It?
It isn’t easy for me. This struggle between the haves, the have-nots. I’ve been in both places and I struggle between my Christian ideals and my Traditional Values. I think lots of people are with me here. Thinking a little more deeply about conflicting values we didn’t used to bother to reconcile; just popped off to one or the other whenever it was convenient and supported our decision.
Maybe it’s just because I am now old and have more concern about my fast-fleeting Nowlife and my fast-approaching Afterlife.
I came across this article about an upcoming Supreme Court Decision about who owns the beachfront…the rich people who own houses with deeds that says their property goes right up to the ocean? Or the poorer folks who want to go swimming and whose tax dollars are replacing the sand that has eroded from in front of those houses? Socialism and Capitalism. Both make strong cases for their positions.
I don’t own a house with a property line that goes to the beach. But friends I visit do; and I have rented one. Really nice. Do I really want to see capitalism eliminated? Do I really want to have government take care of everyone? Can’t somebody find a compassionate middle ground, get elected and run things?. I hope so.
Here is the article:
Landowners on Florida beaches fighting to be sand owners, too
DESTIN, Fla. – Nov. 24, 2009 – The sugar-white sand that stretches from Slade and Nancy Lindsay’s deck to the clear, green waters of the Gulf of Mexico is some of the finest in the world. Tiny, uniformly shaped quartz crystals make the beach that stretches along the Florida Panhandle unique, experts say.
So what could be wrong with creating more of it?
That is what Florida’s beach restoration and renourishment program has been doing statewide for years, pumping in wide new strips of sand to save eroding shorelines.
But the Lindsays and other homeowners challenged the program because it comes with a catch: The new strips of beach belong to the public, not the property owners. They feared their waterfront view of bleached sand and sea oats would include throngs of strangers toting umbrellas and coolers.
The Florida Supreme Court disagreed that the homeowners’ property rights had been infringed upon just because their waterfront property line may not actually touch the water.
And that decision, in turn, has created a new challenge from the landowners: that the state high court ditched 100 years of common law to endorse the popular beach renourishment program, depriving them of their constitutional rights.
It is the latter charge that created the unusual case that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear next week. Justices will examine a concept they have pondered for more than 40 years without resolution: whether a decision by the judicial branch, rather than the executive or legislative, can create the kind of taking of private property forbidden by the Constitution.
“It’s one of the great open questions” in property law, said D. Benjamin Barros, a law professor at Widener University who edits a blog on such topics. The importance of the issue of whether a judicial decision “can eliminate important property rights and leave the owner without a remedy” will only increase with the growing number of public-private disputes over waterfront property, he said.
Florida’s beach renourishment and restoration program has operated for 30 years without such a claim. That is not surprising, because most often the money is spent on coastline ravaged by erosion and hurricanes. Homeowners are generally glad for the help.
But the response was different in parts of Destin, the self-proclaimed “world’s luckiest fishing village.” About 125 boats still leave the harbor each day in search of amberjack, red snapper, grouper and a local delicacy called scamp, City Manager Greg Kisela said. But the real catch these days is developers and tourism.
Destin’s population of fewer than 13,000 swells to nearly 60,000 during what Kisela calls the “100 days of summer,” the visitors lured by a picturesque combination of sand and surf.
Stephen Leatherman, a professor at Florida International University whose top-10 lists of American beaches earned him the title “Dr. Beach,” says the blindingly white sand is unique to the area. “It’s all quartz,” he said, so fine that it squeaks underfoot and even underwater reflects the light in a way that creates clear green and blue bands of water along the Gulf Coast.
Kisela said the beaches are “the economic engine that drives this market,” and acknowledged that with the area’s development, “there’s less beach to go around and more people to enjoy it.”
Slade Lindsay and his lawyer D. Kent Safriet of Tallahassee say that sentiment -- and not erosion -- was the real reason for state and local officials to initiate the nearly seven-mile restoration project in Destin.
“It was a way to bring tourists in, where the tourists could go and not have local property owners say yea or nay about it,” Lindsay said.
That is because the Florida law changed where to affix the property line for beachfront owners. In most coastal states, it is set at the mean high water line -- a fluctuating boundary. Landowners own everything upland of the mark, while the state owns the land seaward. If sand accumulates and creates new beach, it generally benefits the landowner and expands his property.
But when Florida sets out to fix an eroding beach, it decides on a permanent boundary, called an erosion control line. It, too, is usually set at the mean high water line. But after that, any sand that accumulates seaward, either through natural forces or the state’s efforts to pump it along the coast, belongs to the public.
“They’re trying to make a beach without paying for it, whereas if they took the beach by eminent domain, they’d have to pay for it,” Safriet said.
The Florida Supreme Court disagreed in a 5 to 2 vote. It said the restoration program reflected “the state’s constitutional duty to protect Florida’s beaches in a way that reasonably balances public and private interests.”
Landowners still have rights to “access, use and view” the water, even if their waterfront property does not extend to the water’s edge, the court said. It denied that Florida common law ever provided such a right, or gave emerging land to the owner.
But there was a fiery dissent from Florida Justice R. Fred Lewis that probably caught the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court. He said his colleagues had “butchered” Florida law to find a way to further the goal of beach restoration. The decision “is based upon infirm, tortured logic and a rescission from existing precedent,” he wrote.
The words seemed carefully chosen to conform with Justice Potter Stewart’s 1967 definition of when a state court’s decision could rise to the level of creating a judicial taking. Such a decision, he said, would show “a sudden change in state law, unpredictable in terms of the relevant precedents.”
On the current court, Justice Antonin Scalia has been the most outspoken in looking for a federal takings case. He said such a challenge would be warranted if the state court changed a property owner’s rights by “invoking nonexistent rules of state substantive law.” Since Scalia’s 1994 words, the court passed on 15 challenges that attempted to raise the issue before accepting the Florida case.
It has drawn considerable interest from conservative and libertarian legal groups and property rights advocates, on one hand, and support for Florida from a majority of states, the federal government and coastal advocacy groups.
But the federal government said that the case is an unsuitable vehicle for deciding an issue of such consequence, and that the Florida ruling was well-supported. Solicitor General Elena Kagan warns the court that getting involved in reviewing such decisions will require the Supreme Court to delve deeply into a state’s common law and second-guess that state’s high court.
State and local officials in Florida argue that what happened in Destin was not a taking at all.
“The state has not invaded or carved off a single inch of their land,” the city said in its brief. State law prevents any structure being built on the beach in front of their property, or interfering with their access to the water.
But Safriet said statutory rights, which can be changed, are no substitute for constitutional protections. “While from a technical sense, no square inch has been taken, every square inch of this property has been transformed, from waterfront to water view,” he said. “And as you well know, the price difference between those two is tremendous.”
The case is Stop the Beach Renourishment Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Copyright © 2009 washingtonpost.com.
Maybe it’s just because I am now old and have more concern about my fast-fleeting Nowlife and my fast-approaching Afterlife.
I came across this article about an upcoming Supreme Court Decision about who owns the beachfront…the rich people who own houses with deeds that says their property goes right up to the ocean? Or the poorer folks who want to go swimming and whose tax dollars are replacing the sand that has eroded from in front of those houses? Socialism and Capitalism. Both make strong cases for their positions.
I don’t own a house with a property line that goes to the beach. But friends I visit do; and I have rented one. Really nice. Do I really want to see capitalism eliminated? Do I really want to have government take care of everyone? Can’t somebody find a compassionate middle ground, get elected and run things?. I hope so.
Here is the article:
Landowners on Florida beaches fighting to be sand owners, too
DESTIN, Fla. – Nov. 24, 2009 – The sugar-white sand that stretches from Slade and Nancy Lindsay’s deck to the clear, green waters of the Gulf of Mexico is some of the finest in the world. Tiny, uniformly shaped quartz crystals make the beach that stretches along the Florida Panhandle unique, experts say.
So what could be wrong with creating more of it?
That is what Florida’s beach restoration and renourishment program has been doing statewide for years, pumping in wide new strips of sand to save eroding shorelines.
But the Lindsays and other homeowners challenged the program because it comes with a catch: The new strips of beach belong to the public, not the property owners. They feared their waterfront view of bleached sand and sea oats would include throngs of strangers toting umbrellas and coolers.
The Florida Supreme Court disagreed that the homeowners’ property rights had been infringed upon just because their waterfront property line may not actually touch the water.
And that decision, in turn, has created a new challenge from the landowners: that the state high court ditched 100 years of common law to endorse the popular beach renourishment program, depriving them of their constitutional rights.
It is the latter charge that created the unusual case that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear next week. Justices will examine a concept they have pondered for more than 40 years without resolution: whether a decision by the judicial branch, rather than the executive or legislative, can create the kind of taking of private property forbidden by the Constitution.
“It’s one of the great open questions” in property law, said D. Benjamin Barros, a law professor at Widener University who edits a blog on such topics. The importance of the issue of whether a judicial decision “can eliminate important property rights and leave the owner without a remedy” will only increase with the growing number of public-private disputes over waterfront property, he said.
Florida’s beach renourishment and restoration program has operated for 30 years without such a claim. That is not surprising, because most often the money is spent on coastline ravaged by erosion and hurricanes. Homeowners are generally glad for the help.
But the response was different in parts of Destin, the self-proclaimed “world’s luckiest fishing village.” About 125 boats still leave the harbor each day in search of amberjack, red snapper, grouper and a local delicacy called scamp, City Manager Greg Kisela said. But the real catch these days is developers and tourism.
Destin’s population of fewer than 13,000 swells to nearly 60,000 during what Kisela calls the “100 days of summer,” the visitors lured by a picturesque combination of sand and surf.
Stephen Leatherman, a professor at Florida International University whose top-10 lists of American beaches earned him the title “Dr. Beach,” says the blindingly white sand is unique to the area. “It’s all quartz,” he said, so fine that it squeaks underfoot and even underwater reflects the light in a way that creates clear green and blue bands of water along the Gulf Coast.
Kisela said the beaches are “the economic engine that drives this market,” and acknowledged that with the area’s development, “there’s less beach to go around and more people to enjoy it.”
Slade Lindsay and his lawyer D. Kent Safriet of Tallahassee say that sentiment -- and not erosion -- was the real reason for state and local officials to initiate the nearly seven-mile restoration project in Destin.
“It was a way to bring tourists in, where the tourists could go and not have local property owners say yea or nay about it,” Lindsay said.
That is because the Florida law changed where to affix the property line for beachfront owners. In most coastal states, it is set at the mean high water line -- a fluctuating boundary. Landowners own everything upland of the mark, while the state owns the land seaward. If sand accumulates and creates new beach, it generally benefits the landowner and expands his property.
But when Florida sets out to fix an eroding beach, it decides on a permanent boundary, called an erosion control line. It, too, is usually set at the mean high water line. But after that, any sand that accumulates seaward, either through natural forces or the state’s efforts to pump it along the coast, belongs to the public.
“They’re trying to make a beach without paying for it, whereas if they took the beach by eminent domain, they’d have to pay for it,” Safriet said.
The Florida Supreme Court disagreed in a 5 to 2 vote. It said the restoration program reflected “the state’s constitutional duty to protect Florida’s beaches in a way that reasonably balances public and private interests.”
Landowners still have rights to “access, use and view” the water, even if their waterfront property does not extend to the water’s edge, the court said. It denied that Florida common law ever provided such a right, or gave emerging land to the owner.
But there was a fiery dissent from Florida Justice R. Fred Lewis that probably caught the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court. He said his colleagues had “butchered” Florida law to find a way to further the goal of beach restoration. The decision “is based upon infirm, tortured logic and a rescission from existing precedent,” he wrote.
The words seemed carefully chosen to conform with Justice Potter Stewart’s 1967 definition of when a state court’s decision could rise to the level of creating a judicial taking. Such a decision, he said, would show “a sudden change in state law, unpredictable in terms of the relevant precedents.”
On the current court, Justice Antonin Scalia has been the most outspoken in looking for a federal takings case. He said such a challenge would be warranted if the state court changed a property owner’s rights by “invoking nonexistent rules of state substantive law.” Since Scalia’s 1994 words, the court passed on 15 challenges that attempted to raise the issue before accepting the Florida case.
It has drawn considerable interest from conservative and libertarian legal groups and property rights advocates, on one hand, and support for Florida from a majority of states, the federal government and coastal advocacy groups.
But the federal government said that the case is an unsuitable vehicle for deciding an issue of such consequence, and that the Florida ruling was well-supported. Solicitor General Elena Kagan warns the court that getting involved in reviewing such decisions will require the Supreme Court to delve deeply into a state’s common law and second-guess that state’s high court.
State and local officials in Florida argue that what happened in Destin was not a taking at all.
“The state has not invaded or carved off a single inch of their land,” the city said in its brief. State law prevents any structure being built on the beach in front of their property, or interfering with their access to the water.
But Safriet said statutory rights, which can be changed, are no substitute for constitutional protections. “While from a technical sense, no square inch has been taken, every square inch of this property has been transformed, from waterfront to water view,” he said. “And as you well know, the price difference between those two is tremendous.”
The case is Stop the Beach Renourishment Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Copyright © 2009 washingtonpost.com.
Our Uglygarchy
REPUBLIC: A republic is a form of government in which the head of state is not a monarch and the people have an impact on its government. (“and to the Republic for which it stands.")
DEMOCRACY: Government by the people; rule of the majority. By direct vote; by representative government; or by coercion, bribery, manipulation and misrepresentation. All kinds are available.
OLIGARCHY: Government by a few, especially by a small faction of persons, That’s us.
Watching the happenings on Capital Hill? Hearing rants from the right and lies from the left? The elitists want to continue in power, but the populists are rumbling. Time to change our Uglygarchy.
DEMOCRACY: Government by the people; rule of the majority. By direct vote; by representative government; or by coercion, bribery, manipulation and misrepresentation. All kinds are available.
OLIGARCHY: Government by a few, especially by a small faction of persons, That’s us.
Watching the happenings on Capital Hill? Hearing rants from the right and lies from the left? The elitists want to continue in power, but the populists are rumbling. Time to change our Uglygarchy.
Huffington Post's PC ='s PU
I love some of the stuff on the Huffington blog, but she always makes me hunt for the good stuff. For example, in writing about Zach Hyman's trial for filming a nude model at the museum-she fuzzes out the nude model! Progressive? Politically Correct? Choose that that event to blog about and not show the naked broad? Our effete intellectuals are hypocrites...
Lookee, See! Tee Hee Hee!
http://www.zhfoto.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/24/kathleen-kc-neill-zach-hy_n_368872.html
Lookee, See! Tee Hee Hee!
http://www.zhfoto.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/24/kathleen-kc-neill-zach-hy_n_368872.html
Day Ja Voo…Barak Too?
The parallels are amazing. Born dirt poor he works like hell on getting an education. He rises as quickly as an adolescent’s erection in his chosen field. And does it because of the talents of associates who work tirelessly for him. He borrows a bunch of money, promises great things, twists arms to get them. But in the end he fails miserably and takes good people (like me) down with him.
Remember Lee Iacocco? Princeton degree. Two daughters. Fantastic success while he had the likes of Donald N. Frey working for him. Leaves Ford and “saves” Ch;rysler with a bunch of government bailout money. Writes two books, one an autobiography about how great he is.
Promises everyone he will develop this fantastic product that will reduce our dependency on oil. An Electric Car! Twists arms and gets a watered-down version of the car, an Electric Bicycle, to help him out until he can work out the car's details…
The Electric Bike! Forerunner of the world changing Electric Car to come. Erectile dysfunction. He can’t develop the battery needed to power his dream, he falls on his ass and disappears from sight.
Whose book did Barak read? Saul Alinski’s or Lee Iacocca’s? Will Barak’s Healthcare be like Iacocca's Electric Bicycle?.
I was visiting my son in San Diego in 1999 and got so excited about Iacocca and his electric bicycles I went Ia KuKu, bought ten red ones and started a business. "For people who peddled too far and couldn’t get back home. Or couldn’t quite make that hill. Or had the wind at their back and it reversed itself."
The story of Barak and Iacocco?
Well, I wound up with a rented storeroom and my garage full of EBikes and Ehemets and Eshirts that I eventually donated to our Local Bicycle Club. No batteries. Replacement parts and even the small, downsized batteries were no longer available.
The Tea Baggers are breaking wind. Capital Hill is too steep. Obama has peddled too far. Maybe he will be smarter than Iacocco and find a new route. Or else he will he take me down with him and I will be poor and in debt once again. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, my Real Estate business still isn’t doing so good. Move to Florida! Talk To Ted!
Remember Lee Iacocco? Princeton degree. Two daughters. Fantastic success while he had the likes of Donald N. Frey working for him. Leaves Ford and “saves” Ch;rysler with a bunch of government bailout money. Writes two books, one an autobiography about how great he is.
Promises everyone he will develop this fantastic product that will reduce our dependency on oil. An Electric Car! Twists arms and gets a watered-down version of the car, an Electric Bicycle, to help him out until he can work out the car's details…
The Electric Bike! Forerunner of the world changing Electric Car to come. Erectile dysfunction. He can’t develop the battery needed to power his dream, he falls on his ass and disappears from sight.
Whose book did Barak read? Saul Alinski’s or Lee Iacocca’s? Will Barak’s Healthcare be like Iacocca's Electric Bicycle?.
I was visiting my son in San Diego in 1999 and got so excited about Iacocca and his electric bicycles I went Ia KuKu, bought ten red ones and started a business. "For people who peddled too far and couldn’t get back home. Or couldn’t quite make that hill. Or had the wind at their back and it reversed itself."
The story of Barak and Iacocco?
Well, I wound up with a rented storeroom and my garage full of EBikes and Ehemets and Eshirts that I eventually donated to our Local Bicycle Club. No batteries. Replacement parts and even the small, downsized batteries were no longer available.
The Tea Baggers are breaking wind. Capital Hill is too steep. Obama has peddled too far. Maybe he will be smarter than Iacocco and find a new route. Or else he will he take me down with him and I will be poor and in debt once again. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, my Real Estate business still isn’t doing so good. Move to Florida! Talk To Ted!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Dumb Glock Sucker?
I watched “Grand Turino” the other night. It made me wonder whether the confidence I have from owning and carrying a .40 Glock with a laser sight is a mistake? Even if you accept the double-tap philosophy?
The little red dot, instead of staying right on target, wanders around like a frighted housefly when I aim it at more than about ten yards. Would the bad guy see the light and run? Or would he laugh like hell and kick my ass?
I have an old double barrel my Dad gave me as a kid that I was thinking about trading for a short barrel, 12 gauge pump with double-aught buckshot in it. But I can’t tuck that into my waistband or carry it in a small case next to me in the car.
So what about trading that Glock for a Scorpion Vz 61 Machine Pistol or a Micro Uzi http://www.dreadgazebo.com/gunporn/?p=96#comments .
Can I afford it? How will it carry? Good excuse to go to Buck’s gunshop or a local gun show and research it before guns are outlawed via HealthCare legislation... I don’t want to be my headline.
The little red dot, instead of staying right on target, wanders around like a frighted housefly when I aim it at more than about ten yards. Would the bad guy see the light and run? Or would he laugh like hell and kick my ass?
I have an old double barrel my Dad gave me as a kid that I was thinking about trading for a short barrel, 12 gauge pump with double-aught buckshot in it. But I can’t tuck that into my waistband or carry it in a small case next to me in the car.
So what about trading that Glock for a Scorpion Vz 61 Machine Pistol or a Micro Uzi http://www.dreadgazebo.com/gunporn/?p=96#comments .
Can I afford it? How will it carry? Good excuse to go to Buck’s gunshop or a local gun show and research it before guns are outlawed via HealthCare legislation... I don’t want to be my headline.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Blacks Are Chicken!
This whole myth about Black People loving watermelons is crap. Us intellectuals know they really don’t. They can’t pick out a sweet, ripe watermelon from the stack at Public's any better than Whitey. And they can’t cook one any better, either!
But they sure as hell can fry chicken. I found that out when Barb and I were first married; back in 1962. We discovered a little joint in the Black Section of Atlantic City that sold nothing but fried chicken to go. It was always packed with African Americans and only sold take out. We drove there all the way from Ocean City to get that chicken. It was the best anywhere at any price.
Until later in the 1960’s and the riots and stuff. We went in there together and got some looks and heard some unwelcoming remarks that scared the Macho out of me. Never went back. Never found fried chicken that good, either.
Not for years. Not until we were living here in Palm Coast and somehow found out about Bunnell and it’s chicken. Bunnell was the Black population center of Palm Coast when we moved here in 1996. It had the worst elementary school achievement records, the worst crime rate, the worst hospital and the poorest of everything. And it was the capital of the county! Now it has our new County Facilities (our Taj Mahal) they moved the hospital, and it’s becoming gentrified, sort of. I think it’s a great real estate play.
So after being scared away from the chicken place in Atlantic City, you can see why I was a bit scared several years ago when somehow I learned about this great chicken inside a Citgo station in Bunnell. But after all, I am part black, remember…see my post “It’s Great To Be Black in Palm Coast”. And besides I have a carry permit. So one evening, Glock in waistband, I ventured into this gas station and bought some chicken.. Carumba! Heaven! The best fried chicken since Atlantic City!
I won’t tell you its location. They always run out. Sometimes you can wait for the guy to cook up another batch, but if you go in there after four thirty you are taking your chances. Lots of local color hanging around inside and out. Typical Old South, though Whitey seems to have all the jobs in there. Maybe even owns it now. Two breasts, four wings, and three potato logs; logs, not fries you ninny! For under $10. You know I am not going to give an address.
And there is another great Chicken Place in Bunnell. The Chicken Pantry. Just south of Route 100 on US #1. Fantastic home cooked food and they don’t usually run out of chicken. You can sit down inside or outside and eat. Lawyers and Loafers. Ties and Tattoos. Great camaraderie. One of the best examples of the new Integrated South you can find. Try it, You’ll Like It. We sure do.
Anyway, I have joined the NAACP and the local African American Cultural Society http://www.africanamericanculturalcenterpalmcoast.org/ I have not heard from either yet. I thought my possible relationship to the Moors who conquered Sicily would qualify me for membership. Once I get my membership cards I will attend some functions.
An aside: Espanola is supposed to be a historically significant Black place in Palm Coast. I plan to look into it more and will let you know. It has a Brick Road there that I have been meaning to travel one day when I want to find Toto. Espanola is an unincorporated community in Flagler County, Florida, United States. It is located at the intersection of Old Brick Road and Flagler County Road 205. The town covers a very small area, with an area of only 2 miles. It is part of the Palm Coast Metropolitan Statistical Area.
I looked for something on its history. I could only find this: “'The Rev' revives segregation-era schoolhouse in Espanola. Schoolhouse renovation revived by The Rev in Espanola." This Daytona Beach News-Journal Archive contains no photos, charts, or graphics. They wanted $2.95 for the article so I passed.
The AfroAmericanCenter’s website talks about an Espanola Cultural Center. I hope they mean the Espanola in Palm Coast, but they may mean the big fancy one in Espanola, Dade County:
From HISTORY FESTIVAL KEEPS GROWING
Apr 2, 1987 - BLACK SETTLEMENTS IN AMERICA -- Architectural exhibit shows black history from 1865 to present. 9 am to 5 pm today through May 31 at the ... ESPAnOLA FANTASY DAYS -- Festival plays off unique village architecture of Espanola Way to re-create a pirates' market and courtyard theater. ... "
God Bless You, Namaste, Alluha Akbar and
Black is Beautiful!
But they sure as hell can fry chicken. I found that out when Barb and I were first married; back in 1962. We discovered a little joint in the Black Section of Atlantic City that sold nothing but fried chicken to go. It was always packed with African Americans and only sold take out. We drove there all the way from Ocean City to get that chicken. It was the best anywhere at any price.
Until later in the 1960’s and the riots and stuff. We went in there together and got some looks and heard some unwelcoming remarks that scared the Macho out of me. Never went back. Never found fried chicken that good, either.
Not for years. Not until we were living here in Palm Coast and somehow found out about Bunnell and it’s chicken. Bunnell was the Black population center of Palm Coast when we moved here in 1996. It had the worst elementary school achievement records, the worst crime rate, the worst hospital and the poorest of everything. And it was the capital of the county! Now it has our new County Facilities (our Taj Mahal) they moved the hospital, and it’s becoming gentrified, sort of. I think it’s a great real estate play.
So after being scared away from the chicken place in Atlantic City, you can see why I was a bit scared several years ago when somehow I learned about this great chicken inside a Citgo station in Bunnell. But after all, I am part black, remember…see my post “It’s Great To Be Black in Palm Coast”. And besides I have a carry permit. So one evening, Glock in waistband, I ventured into this gas station and bought some chicken.. Carumba! Heaven! The best fried chicken since Atlantic City!
I won’t tell you its location. They always run out. Sometimes you can wait for the guy to cook up another batch, but if you go in there after four thirty you are taking your chances. Lots of local color hanging around inside and out. Typical Old South, though Whitey seems to have all the jobs in there. Maybe even owns it now. Two breasts, four wings, and three potato logs; logs, not fries you ninny! For under $10. You know I am not going to give an address.
And there is another great Chicken Place in Bunnell. The Chicken Pantry. Just south of Route 100 on US #1. Fantastic home cooked food and they don’t usually run out of chicken. You can sit down inside or outside and eat. Lawyers and Loafers. Ties and Tattoos. Great camaraderie. One of the best examples of the new Integrated South you can find. Try it, You’ll Like It. We sure do.
Anyway, I have joined the NAACP and the local African American Cultural Society http://www.africanamericanculturalcenterpalmcoast.org/ I have not heard from either yet. I thought my possible relationship to the Moors who conquered Sicily would qualify me for membership. Once I get my membership cards I will attend some functions.
An aside: Espanola is supposed to be a historically significant Black place in Palm Coast. I plan to look into it more and will let you know. It has a Brick Road there that I have been meaning to travel one day when I want to find Toto. Espanola is an unincorporated community in Flagler County, Florida, United States. It is located at the intersection of Old Brick Road and Flagler County Road 205. The town covers a very small area, with an area of only 2 miles. It is part of the Palm Coast Metropolitan Statistical Area.
I looked for something on its history. I could only find this: “'The Rev' revives segregation-era schoolhouse in Espanola. Schoolhouse renovation revived by The Rev in Espanola." This Daytona Beach News-Journal Archive contains no photos, charts, or graphics. They wanted $2.95 for the article so I passed.
The AfroAmericanCenter’s website talks about an Espanola Cultural Center. I hope they mean the Espanola in Palm Coast, but they may mean the big fancy one in Espanola, Dade County:
From HISTORY FESTIVAL KEEPS GROWING
Apr 2, 1987 - BLACK SETTLEMENTS IN AMERICA -- Architectural exhibit shows black history from 1865 to present. 9 am to 5 pm today through May 31 at the ... ESPAnOLA FANTASY DAYS -- Festival plays off unique village architecture of Espanola Way to re-create a pirates' market and courtyard theater. ... "
God Bless You, Namaste, Alluha Akbar and
Black is Beautiful!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Investors Delight, Homeowners-No End In Sight!
Doing my 'Buyer's Broker" research this morning....
WASHINGTON – Nov. 20, 2009 – Twenty-nine percent of recent buyers purchased a home in foreclosure or through a short sale, according to the latest Realtors® Confidence Index.
Mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration are the primary lending vehicle for many buyers; 24 percent of recent buyers used an FHA loan to finance their purchase. However, more than one in five recent buyers – 21 percent – paid all cash.
The RCI is a key indicator of housing market strength based on a monthly survey of more than 50,000 Realtors; in a typical month there are more than 3,000 usable responses. Practitioners are asked about their expectations for home sales, prices and market conditions; they also share their insights regarding buyer preferences and financing options and how those factors are influencing real estate markets nationwide. COMPLETE ARTICLE AT: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=227405
Some other observations from my readings…
Our foreclosure crisis likely will persist well into next year as high unemployment pushes more people out of homes, pulls down housing prices and raises concerns about the broader economic recovery.
The latest evidence is a report that a rising proportion of fixed-rate home loans made to people with good credit are sinking into foreclosure. Driven by rising unemployment, prime fixed-rate loans to buyers with good credit accounted for nearly 33 percent of new foreclosures last quarter compared with 21 percent a year ago.
One in four mortgages in Florida were either past due or in foreclosure, the most in the U.S.
After three years of plunging prices, the housing market started to rebound this summer. That lifted hopes for the overall economy. But analysts say there are too many foreclosed homes that have yet to be dumped on the market and expect further price declines.
Another unknown is the effectiveness of the Obama administration plan to attack the foreclosure crisis. As of last month, about 20 percent of eligible borrowers, or more than 650,000 people, had signed up. But most of those enrolled have been chosen for trials lasting up to only five months.
Buyers from Around the World Unite! Buy a piece of America! And then we can get our appraisals back up as fast as they went down! (But no Green Cards!)
WASHINGTON – Nov. 20, 2009 – Twenty-nine percent of recent buyers purchased a home in foreclosure or through a short sale, according to the latest Realtors® Confidence Index.
Mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration are the primary lending vehicle for many buyers; 24 percent of recent buyers used an FHA loan to finance their purchase. However, more than one in five recent buyers – 21 percent – paid all cash.
The RCI is a key indicator of housing market strength based on a monthly survey of more than 50,000 Realtors; in a typical month there are more than 3,000 usable responses. Practitioners are asked about their expectations for home sales, prices and market conditions; they also share their insights regarding buyer preferences and financing options and how those factors are influencing real estate markets nationwide. COMPLETE ARTICLE AT: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=227405
Some other observations from my readings…
Our foreclosure crisis likely will persist well into next year as high unemployment pushes more people out of homes, pulls down housing prices and raises concerns about the broader economic recovery.
The latest evidence is a report that a rising proportion of fixed-rate home loans made to people with good credit are sinking into foreclosure. Driven by rising unemployment, prime fixed-rate loans to buyers with good credit accounted for nearly 33 percent of new foreclosures last quarter compared with 21 percent a year ago.
One in four mortgages in Florida were either past due or in foreclosure, the most in the U.S.
After three years of plunging prices, the housing market started to rebound this summer. That lifted hopes for the overall economy. But analysts say there are too many foreclosed homes that have yet to be dumped on the market and expect further price declines.
Another unknown is the effectiveness of the Obama administration plan to attack the foreclosure crisis. As of last month, about 20 percent of eligible borrowers, or more than 650,000 people, had signed up. But most of those enrolled have been chosen for trials lasting up to only five months.
Buyers from Around the World Unite! Buy a piece of America! And then we can get our appraisals back up as fast as they went down! (But no Green Cards!)
I Swear....Not
Following up on my 'No Swearing' blog, I almost fell off the wagon this morning when I saw this 'Most Popular' YouTube video.
Instead I wrote my buddy a note thanking him for the free lunch on the ocean in New Smyrna and the free advice; on which-like Sara Palin-the jury still remains out!
"Herb,
If you check out my blog you will see I reacted to our lunch and swore of swearing. Maybe just for a little while. Because you paid...
Take a look at the latest YouTube/most popular video. That could be me! Almost a million viewers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f0Mepuh3vM&feature=topvideos
American has changed. You better pin your hopes on Sarah Pee and Beck.
Thanks for lunch and the advice.
In the Buns,
Rots"
My four current Blog Readers have left me no direction on this subject, so Fxxx them!
Instead I wrote my buddy a note thanking him for the free lunch on the ocean in New Smyrna and the free advice; on which-like Sara Palin-the jury still remains out!
"Herb,
If you check out my blog you will see I reacted to our lunch and swore of swearing. Maybe just for a little while. Because you paid...
Take a look at the latest YouTube/most popular video. That could be me! Almost a million viewers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f0Mepuh3vM&feature=topvideos
American has changed. You better pin your hopes on Sarah Pee and Beck.
Thanks for lunch and the advice.
In the Buns,
Rots"
My four current Blog Readers have left me no direction on this subject, so Fxxx them!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Sarah Pee’s All Over Barak
Spineless Academic. Wow! That’s what she is called our President tonight.
The concept itself has some merit-and some history. Us oldies still remember the saying ”Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach”. But “Spineless Academic”! That has even more bite to it than “Effete Intellectual” .
Sarah took aim and called Barak and his ilk spineless academics. She might just have coined a new slur. Better than the “LameStream Media” she borrowed from Bernie Goldsomething.
Barak: No decision on troops? Nancy and Harry taking full control of healthcare? Holder sponsoring a media circus for terrorists? What do we have here, anyway?
Common folks really like Barak and want him to be a strong and effective leader that changes America for the better and keeps us safe. But common folks are beginning to worry. And they are the swing voters.
Did America really elect a spineless academic? Is he really fronting for a bunch of powerful far left interest groups and Chicago cronies who got him the money and votes he needed to get elected? Is he a Political Puppet? Are the back room politicians all collecting their paybacks? What gives here? Who is this guy, anyway? A talented and brilliant political con man or an intelligent, deliberative, reasonable decision maker? I loved his books and his campaign rhetoric, but only time will tell what kind of leader he will be..
Meanwhile, Sarah has thrown down the gauntlet. Mr. President is guilty of breaking campaign promises like “Bringing Us Together”, “Transparency In Government” and “No More Pork” So Mr. President better quickly start producing what he was elected to produce-or a lot of Democrats are going to lose elections. Sarah is about to fire up conservatives and begins storing up lots of markers for 2012 on this “book tour”.
Lots of folks do love Palin with a passion. However, I think she still isn’t coming across knowledgeable or experienced enough to head a ticket. I think she will raise lots of money. Help friends get elected. But not head a Republican or even an Independent party ticket in 2012. Who will she select to take her to the inaugural dance? Maybe it will be Romney/Palin against Obama/Hillary? Or will she break a leg and star forever on Saturday Night Live? Time will Tell.
What Say You? Teach Me Tonight. Leave a comment! Talk To Ted!
The concept itself has some merit-and some history. Us oldies still remember the saying ”Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach”. But “Spineless Academic”! That has even more bite to it than “Effete Intellectual” .
Sarah took aim and called Barak and his ilk spineless academics. She might just have coined a new slur. Better than the “LameStream Media” she borrowed from Bernie Goldsomething.
Barak: No decision on troops? Nancy and Harry taking full control of healthcare? Holder sponsoring a media circus for terrorists? What do we have here, anyway?
Common folks really like Barak and want him to be a strong and effective leader that changes America for the better and keeps us safe. But common folks are beginning to worry. And they are the swing voters.
Did America really elect a spineless academic? Is he really fronting for a bunch of powerful far left interest groups and Chicago cronies who got him the money and votes he needed to get elected? Is he a Political Puppet? Are the back room politicians all collecting their paybacks? What gives here? Who is this guy, anyway? A talented and brilliant political con man or an intelligent, deliberative, reasonable decision maker? I loved his books and his campaign rhetoric, but only time will tell what kind of leader he will be..
Meanwhile, Sarah has thrown down the gauntlet. Mr. President is guilty of breaking campaign promises like “Bringing Us Together”, “Transparency In Government” and “No More Pork” So Mr. President better quickly start producing what he was elected to produce-or a lot of Democrats are going to lose elections. Sarah is about to fire up conservatives and begins storing up lots of markers for 2012 on this “book tour”.
Lots of folks do love Palin with a passion. However, I think she still isn’t coming across knowledgeable or experienced enough to head a ticket. I think she will raise lots of money. Help friends get elected. But not head a Republican or even an Independent party ticket in 2012. Who will she select to take her to the inaugural dance? Maybe it will be Romney/Palin against Obama/Hillary? Or will she break a leg and star forever on Saturday Night Live? Time will Tell.
What Say You? Teach Me Tonight. Leave a comment! Talk To Ted!
Another Muslim Hijacking!
Another Hijacking!
This time the radical Islamists are raiding one of their own. They are managing to kidnap the wonderful Allahu Akbar expression from the non-radical Muslims and taint it with their own definition: Kill The Infidel!
This would be like the Skinheads promoting "Jesus Saves!" by shouting 'Jesus Saves' as they dragged some poor Rabbi from his car and beat the hell out of him.
But we all know what “Jesus Saves” really means and their shouts would not influence us.
But most of us don’t know what "Allahu Akbar" means. I even spelled it wrong in my recent blog. So I looked it up…
From Wikipedia (Edited):
The takbīr or takbeer is the Arabic name for the phrase Allāhu Akbar.
Usually translated "God is [the] greatest," it is a common Islamic Arabic expression, used as both an informal expression of faith and as a formal declaration.
Usage
Takbīr is the name of the expression; the phrase itself is "Allahu Akbar".
This phrase is recited by Muslims in many different situations. For example, when they are happy, to express approval, to praise a speaker, during battles, and during times of extreme stress or euphoria. In the Islamic world, instead of applause, often someone will shout "takbir" and the crowd will respond "Allahu Akbar" in chorus.
In prayer
The phrase is said during each stage of both obligatory prayers (which are supposed to be performed five times a day), and supererogatory prayers (performed at will). The Muslim call to prayer (adhan) and to commence prayer (iqama) also contains the phrase.
More from Wikipedia
Here’s how the Radical Islamics hijacked it and are turning us against everyone who uses it because we think they are a radical out to kill us:
After 9/11, the FBI released a handwritten hijackers' letter found in three separate copies at Dulles, the Pennsylvania crash site, and in Mohamed Atta's suitcase. It included a practical checklist of final reminders for the 9/11 hijackers. One notable excerpt: "When the confrontation begins, strike like champions who do not want to go back to this world. Shout, 'Allahu Akbar,' because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers.
When in 2003, Imam Samudra became the second Bali bomber from a violent Islamist group to be sentenced to death for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, Samudra greeted the sentence with chants of "Allahu Akbar".
In the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, a group of radical Islamist[4] men were convicted of plotting to stage an attack on the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey. A group of them had recorded video footage of themselves shooting weapons and shouting Allahu Akbar.
During the Fort Hood shooting on November 5, 2009, soldiers who witnessed the shooting reported that gunman Major Nidal Malik Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" before opening fire in Fort Hood, killing 13 people and wounding 30 others.
Why don’t non-radical Muslims throw a public fit, just like Christian pastors would if “Jesus Saves” was being co-opted for evil purposes?
I just looked into the phrase because I was curious. I have been using it along with “Namaste’” and “God Bless You” as a feeble effort to promote the brotherhood of man as taught in my Unity Church.
Allahu Akbar. God is the Greatest! Stop Radical Islamists! Pass it On!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takbir
This time the radical Islamists are raiding one of their own. They are managing to kidnap the wonderful Allahu Akbar expression from the non-radical Muslims and taint it with their own definition: Kill The Infidel!
This would be like the Skinheads promoting "Jesus Saves!" by shouting 'Jesus Saves' as they dragged some poor Rabbi from his car and beat the hell out of him.
But we all know what “Jesus Saves” really means and their shouts would not influence us.
But most of us don’t know what "Allahu Akbar" means. I even spelled it wrong in my recent blog. So I looked it up…
From Wikipedia (Edited):
The takbīr or takbeer is the Arabic name for the phrase Allāhu Akbar.
Usually translated "God is [the] greatest," it is a common Islamic Arabic expression, used as both an informal expression of faith and as a formal declaration.
Usage
Takbīr is the name of the expression; the phrase itself is "Allahu Akbar".
This phrase is recited by Muslims in many different situations. For example, when they are happy, to express approval, to praise a speaker, during battles, and during times of extreme stress or euphoria. In the Islamic world, instead of applause, often someone will shout "takbir" and the crowd will respond "Allahu Akbar" in chorus.
In prayer
The phrase is said during each stage of both obligatory prayers (which are supposed to be performed five times a day), and supererogatory prayers (performed at will). The Muslim call to prayer (adhan) and to commence prayer (iqama) also contains the phrase.
More from Wikipedia
Here’s how the Radical Islamics hijacked it and are turning us against everyone who uses it because we think they are a radical out to kill us:
After 9/11, the FBI released a handwritten hijackers' letter found in three separate copies at Dulles, the Pennsylvania crash site, and in Mohamed Atta's suitcase. It included a practical checklist of final reminders for the 9/11 hijackers. One notable excerpt: "When the confrontation begins, strike like champions who do not want to go back to this world. Shout, 'Allahu Akbar,' because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers.
When in 2003, Imam Samudra became the second Bali bomber from a violent Islamist group to be sentenced to death for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, Samudra greeted the sentence with chants of "Allahu Akbar".
In the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, a group of radical Islamist[4] men were convicted of plotting to stage an attack on the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey. A group of them had recorded video footage of themselves shooting weapons and shouting Allahu Akbar.
During the Fort Hood shooting on November 5, 2009, soldiers who witnessed the shooting reported that gunman Major Nidal Malik Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" before opening fire in Fort Hood, killing 13 people and wounding 30 others.
Why don’t non-radical Muslims throw a public fit, just like Christian pastors would if “Jesus Saves” was being co-opted for evil purposes?
I just looked into the phrase because I was curious. I have been using it along with “Namaste’” and “God Bless You” as a feeble effort to promote the brotherhood of man as taught in my Unity Church.
Allahu Akbar. God is the Greatest! Stop Radical Islamists! Pass it On!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takbir
Ram it, Baby!
My old Dell Inspirion 5100 was running slow. I met with a computer repair guy and asked him to add some RAM. Instead I got an $85 "clean up" job. He ran a few programs they all have and sent me the bill. I have been looking for a new repair guy but they are in short supply; many hire people to help them that don't know what they are doing and charge the same rate. Raking it in. Raking us over.
Our real estate group has a great technical hotline. They sent me a very good article on how to check to see if your computer needs more memory and how to buy and install it if the checkup says you could use a little more RAM...(Not a 'Friend With Benefits').
THE ARTICLE:
"Let's review the two types of memory computers operate off of - RAM (Random Access Memory) and hard drive memory. Understanding their differences will help you determine if one needs to be upgraded.
RAM versus hard drive memory
The hard drive memory is the long term, permanent memory. It is where all files, photos, music, and other permanent files are stored. This memory is measured in Gigabytes (GB) and is usually much higher than RAM because it is the storage capacity for the entire machine.
RAM is the short term memory which helps increase the speed of the computer. When you open a file, the computer must store the data somewhere temporarily to access it. So it writes the data to RAM temporarily for quick access. The more RAM your computer has, the faster you can access files and programs. RAM is typically measured in (MB) Megabytes or (GB) Gigabytes depending on the size of the computer chip.
How much RAM does your computer need? 512MB is typically the standard for XP machines. If you're on a Vista machine then 2GB is the minimum. Unless you're a gamer, then these amounts should be sufficient for your needs. Be sure you look at the requirements before installing any new program or game to ensure you have enough RAM.
How do you know if you need more RAM?
There are some common signs you should be aware of, for example, slower than normal speed when accessing normal programs or files. This could be a gradual process or it could happen overnight.
Another closely related sign that your RAM is running low is if you're experiencing display problems. These can range from Internet pages that only load partially or nothing at all, and can even affect your own saved files. For example, if you try to open a document and see blank spaces where text or images should be displayed, this might tell you it's a RAM problem.
One of the most obvious signs is notifications that pop up in your computer saying "low memory" or "out of memory." If this happens, you definitely need to add more RAM soon or delete old programs.
Use the Task Manager
A better way to find out if you need more RAM is to compare your Total Physical Memory (memory installed) and your Total Commit Charge (total memory being used), you can determine whether or not you need to add more RAM. Find these details by opening your Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Delete), select Task Manager, and click the Performance tab.
If your peak is lower than Total Physical Memory, then you don't need more RAM. If your peak is higher than Total Physical Memory, then you do need more RAM. If the Total Commit Charge is higher than the Total Physical Memory, more memory would give you a significant performance boost.
Also note that the measurements are in (K) Kilobytes. Since most RAM is measured in (MB) Megabytes, you'll want to convert the measurements. To convert (K) Kilobytes to (MB) Megabytes, simply divide the Kilobytes by 1024.
Use an online memory advisor
For those who don't want to mess with the math, you should consult an online memory advisor tool who will do the work for you. Crucial Technology will tell you what type of RAM you need and how much.
If you determine you need more RAM, you can do it yourself, or take it to a professional, where you can expect to pay anywhere from $30 to 100 for time and labor. But there are reputable websites that can help you do it yourself. You can find step-by-step instructions here. "
SOURCE: http://view.email.reisinnovations.com/?j=fe581675716302757610&m=fef1127571620d&ls=fde1107574620d79721d797d&l=fe8f1c70746c0d7f71&s=fe3116737565027c711c75&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe31167174640075721477
Our real estate group has a great technical hotline. They sent me a very good article on how to check to see if your computer needs more memory and how to buy and install it if the checkup says you could use a little more RAM...(Not a 'Friend With Benefits').
THE ARTICLE:
"Let's review the two types of memory computers operate off of - RAM (Random Access Memory) and hard drive memory. Understanding their differences will help you determine if one needs to be upgraded.
RAM versus hard drive memory
The hard drive memory is the long term, permanent memory. It is where all files, photos, music, and other permanent files are stored. This memory is measured in Gigabytes (GB) and is usually much higher than RAM because it is the storage capacity for the entire machine.
RAM is the short term memory which helps increase the speed of the computer. When you open a file, the computer must store the data somewhere temporarily to access it. So it writes the data to RAM temporarily for quick access. The more RAM your computer has, the faster you can access files and programs. RAM is typically measured in (MB) Megabytes or (GB) Gigabytes depending on the size of the computer chip.
How much RAM does your computer need? 512MB is typically the standard for XP machines. If you're on a Vista machine then 2GB is the minimum. Unless you're a gamer, then these amounts should be sufficient for your needs. Be sure you look at the requirements before installing any new program or game to ensure you have enough RAM.
How do you know if you need more RAM?
There are some common signs you should be aware of, for example, slower than normal speed when accessing normal programs or files. This could be a gradual process or it could happen overnight.
Another closely related sign that your RAM is running low is if you're experiencing display problems. These can range from Internet pages that only load partially or nothing at all, and can even affect your own saved files. For example, if you try to open a document and see blank spaces where text or images should be displayed, this might tell you it's a RAM problem.
One of the most obvious signs is notifications that pop up in your computer saying "low memory" or "out of memory." If this happens, you definitely need to add more RAM soon or delete old programs.
Use the Task Manager
A better way to find out if you need more RAM is to compare your Total Physical Memory (memory installed) and your Total Commit Charge (total memory being used), you can determine whether or not you need to add more RAM. Find these details by opening your Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Delete), select Task Manager, and click the Performance tab.
If your peak is lower than Total Physical Memory, then you don't need more RAM. If your peak is higher than Total Physical Memory, then you do need more RAM. If the Total Commit Charge is higher than the Total Physical Memory, more memory would give you a significant performance boost.
Also note that the measurements are in (K) Kilobytes. Since most RAM is measured in (MB) Megabytes, you'll want to convert the measurements. To convert (K) Kilobytes to (MB) Megabytes, simply divide the Kilobytes by 1024.
Use an online memory advisor
For those who don't want to mess with the math, you should consult an online memory advisor tool who will do the work for you. Crucial Technology will tell you what type of RAM you need and how much.
If you determine you need more RAM, you can do it yourself, or take it to a professional, where you can expect to pay anywhere from $30 to 100 for time and labor. But there are reputable websites that can help you do it yourself. You can find step-by-step instructions here. "
SOURCE: http://view.email.reisinnovations.com/?j=fe581675716302757610&m=fef1127571620d&ls=fde1107574620d79721d797d&l=fe8f1c70746c0d7f71&s=fe3116737565027c711c75&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe31167174640075721477
Understanding Islam
Haven't figured out yet how to better understand the service at the Islamic Center. I don't know whether to go and ask my Pizza friend Yusef how to find out about the service so I feel more comfortable visiting. I want to go again and learn more and try for some 'brotherhood in God/Allah', but I don't want to feel so out of it. I also want to go to a Mosque. Maybe the one in
Jacksonville or Daytona Beach is a Mosque and not a Center. But not until I feel more comfortable participating in the service.
When I went to Bucknell, my Catholic frat brother and I used to go to a different church each Sunday to learn what they were about. A great experience. I still do it. An open mind is the most powerful learning tool one can have. And you can't extend brotherly love to people from a distance.
So I will continue to look for something to teach me the routine. And I hope I can get into it enough that I can personally be able to tell the difference between the bad guys who are teaching their brothers to kill unbelievers and the good guys who are living the loving teachings. I do feel they should be more proactive in ratting out anyone who they find talking about killing or blowing up something. Especially if they are talking about blowing up me.
God Bless You, Nameste' and Allah Akbar!
Jacksonville or Daytona Beach is a Mosque and not a Center. But not until I feel more comfortable participating in the service.
When I went to Bucknell, my Catholic frat brother and I used to go to a different church each Sunday to learn what they were about. A great experience. I still do it. An open mind is the most powerful learning tool one can have. And you can't extend brotherly love to people from a distance.
So I will continue to look for something to teach me the routine. And I hope I can get into it enough that I can personally be able to tell the difference between the bad guys who are teaching their brothers to kill unbelievers and the good guys who are living the loving teachings. I do feel they should be more proactive in ratting out anyone who they find talking about killing or blowing up something. Especially if they are talking about blowing up me.
God Bless You, Nameste' and Allah Akbar!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
See You At The Palm Coast Courthouse
It seems divorce filings are being outstripped by Lis Pendens foreclosure filings here in Palm Coast and across the country. Here's a post from today's EarlyBird Newsletter to realtors. (I wrote about how I am helping people stay in their homes and helping others to buy them at the courthouse in one of my earlier posts: "The Skinny on Short Sales" )
Next wave of foreclosures looms
WASHINGTON – Nov. 19, 2009 – A second wave of foreclosures is poised to hit the market, potentially undermining housing recovery efforts as more homes add to the glut of inventory and drive down prices.
These homes largely represent loans that are delinquent but have not yet resulted in foreclosure sales.
About 7 million properties are destined to go into foreclosure, according to a September study by Amherst Securities Group, compared with 1.27 million properties in early 2005.
“There’s a huge supply out there,” says Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. “The foreclosure process can take a long time. When it comes to (the housing recovery), we’re not home free.”
There is often a long lag time between a borrower going delinquent and the bank taking the home. Here’s why:
• Moratoriums. New state laws imposing short-term moratoriums have slowed the timeline from delinquency to foreclosure.
• Overwhelmed lenders. Banks dealing with a surge in refinancing, mortgage modifications and defaults are overwhelmed with demand, so it can take longer to initiate a foreclosure sale.
• Modifications. Many loans now are first examined to see if they might qualify for a modification. This drags out the timeline and means it is taking longer for homes to go into foreclosure.
• Asset write-downs. Banks may in part be waiting to liquidate homes through foreclosure because they don’t want to write down the value of the asset. Lenders can keep homes on the books at a higher value until they are sold at foreclosure.
“There is a lot of foreclosed property in the pipeline that will hit the market and depress prices,” says Mark Zandi at Moody’s Economy.com. Foreclosed homes often sell at prices below those on the market and can therefore drag down overall home values.
The shadow market of foreclosed homes eclipses the number of homes lost this year. Zandi anticipates there will be about 2.4 million homes lost next year through foreclosure, short sales and deeds in lieu of foreclosure. That compares with 2 million homes lost in 2009.
Jumana Bauwens, a spokeswoman at Bank of America, says the bank is projecting an increase in foreclosures in part because customers will not be qualifying for existing loan-modification programs.
FULL ARTICLE AT: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=227305It
Next wave of foreclosures looms
WASHINGTON – Nov. 19, 2009 – A second wave of foreclosures is poised to hit the market, potentially undermining housing recovery efforts as more homes add to the glut of inventory and drive down prices.
These homes largely represent loans that are delinquent but have not yet resulted in foreclosure sales.
About 7 million properties are destined to go into foreclosure, according to a September study by Amherst Securities Group, compared with 1.27 million properties in early 2005.
“There’s a huge supply out there,” says Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. “The foreclosure process can take a long time. When it comes to (the housing recovery), we’re not home free.”
There is often a long lag time between a borrower going delinquent and the bank taking the home. Here’s why:
• Moratoriums. New state laws imposing short-term moratoriums have slowed the timeline from delinquency to foreclosure.
• Overwhelmed lenders. Banks dealing with a surge in refinancing, mortgage modifications and defaults are overwhelmed with demand, so it can take longer to initiate a foreclosure sale.
• Modifications. Many loans now are first examined to see if they might qualify for a modification. This drags out the timeline and means it is taking longer for homes to go into foreclosure.
• Asset write-downs. Banks may in part be waiting to liquidate homes through foreclosure because they don’t want to write down the value of the asset. Lenders can keep homes on the books at a higher value until they are sold at foreclosure.
“There is a lot of foreclosed property in the pipeline that will hit the market and depress prices,” says Mark Zandi at Moody’s Economy.com. Foreclosed homes often sell at prices below those on the market and can therefore drag down overall home values.
The shadow market of foreclosed homes eclipses the number of homes lost this year. Zandi anticipates there will be about 2.4 million homes lost next year through foreclosure, short sales and deeds in lieu of foreclosure. That compares with 2 million homes lost in 2009.
Jumana Bauwens, a spokeswoman at Bank of America, says the bank is projecting an increase in foreclosures in part because customers will not be qualifying for existing loan-modification programs.
FULL ARTICLE AT: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=227305It
Tonify Your Yang
One of my 'Smart Alec' friends sent me an email and I did some research on the topic...Chinese Medicine. Advice for how to tone up your Yin and your Yang. I found it interesting...
Dietary Principles According to Traditional Chinese Medicine
In Traditional Chinese medicine proper diet is an important component of health. All foods are categorized into temperature, from hot to cold and flavour, pungent, spicy, sweet, sour and salty. Different temperatures and flavours of food influence the body in specific ways. One should try to include all flavours and a balance of temperatures in every meal. If too much of one type of food is consumed it can create an imbalance with in the body.
Traditional Chinese medicine views the stomach and spleen as a cooking pot that breaks down the food that is eaten and turns it into energy and blood for the body. The stomach is the cauldron and the spleen is the digestive fire that warms up the pot. The stomach cooks and breaks down the food, sending the pure part of the food to the spleen to be distributed to the rest of the body and eliminating the waste as feces and urine. It is important to maintain this digestive fire and too many cold and raw foods can put out the digestive fire, weakening and slowing the digestive system.
MY ARTICLE: http://www.comoxvalleyacupuncture.com/recommend.html
FRIEND'S ARTICLE: ADULTS ONLY-Cialis Type ad:http://www.servnice.com/=http://www.scamspam.org/tag/www-servnice-com/
Dietary Principles According to Traditional Chinese Medicine
In Traditional Chinese medicine proper diet is an important component of health. All foods are categorized into temperature, from hot to cold and flavour, pungent, spicy, sweet, sour and salty. Different temperatures and flavours of food influence the body in specific ways. One should try to include all flavours and a balance of temperatures in every meal. If too much of one type of food is consumed it can create an imbalance with in the body.
Traditional Chinese medicine views the stomach and spleen as a cooking pot that breaks down the food that is eaten and turns it into energy and blood for the body. The stomach is the cauldron and the spleen is the digestive fire that warms up the pot. The stomach cooks and breaks down the food, sending the pure part of the food to the spleen to be distributed to the rest of the body and eliminating the waste as feces and urine. It is important to maintain this digestive fire and too many cold and raw foods can put out the digestive fire, weakening and slowing the digestive system.
MY ARTICLE: http://www.comoxvalleyacupuncture.com/recommend.html
FRIEND'S ARTICLE: ADULTS ONLY-Cialis Type ad:
Palm Coast Oldies Get Approved
GoToby published a Supreme Court ruling that should help me sell some houses soon. Florida has a new law that really helps those of us who have lived here a long time and want to sell their house. Here is an edited excerpt:
Palm Coast, FL – November 18, 2009 – The Save Our Homes amendment, passed in 1992, caps annual assessment increases to 3% for homesteaded properties.
Last year, Florida voters added a portability provision which allows at least part of the Save Our Homes tax savings to follow the homesteaded owner when he or she moves to another Florida home.
Lawsuits followed, challenging both the underlying amendment and the portability feature. Tuesday Florida's 1st District Court of Appeal ruled against the petitioners on both counts.
To read the whole article, go to
http://www.gotoby.com/news.php?id=870
See Also: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=227198
Palm Coast, FL – November 18, 2009 – The Save Our Homes amendment, passed in 1992, caps annual assessment increases to 3% for homesteaded properties.
Last year, Florida voters added a portability provision which allows at least part of the Save Our Homes tax savings to follow the homesteaded owner when he or she moves to another Florida home.
Lawsuits followed, challenging both the underlying amendment and the portability feature. Tuesday Florida's 1st District Court of Appeal ruled against the petitioners on both counts.
To read the whole article, go to
http://www.gotoby.com/news.php?id=870
See Also: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=227198
I Swear To You
No more swearwords. I have been using salty language in my blogs to be "with it", for shock value, because that seems to be the way most young people talk to each other these days. Girls and Boys. I have avoided the f word. That's going too far for me. But I have generously used many of the common ones.
It's gotten so that the Clinton popularized "suck" word had become acceptable for even small children to use in TV commercials. Our America has truly changed.
I am 72. Grew up with old fashion values. I was a Mormon for years. Never swore.
But now I am schitzy. I slip out of "crude but clever" to "refined Bucknell grad" at will. In my home and talking with my wife, no swearwords. Writing the blog and acting macho with my SAE fraternity brothers and selected others, I swear.
DECISION: No more swearwords in this blog. I had lunch with one of my closest friends who I love and respect. I had asked him to read my blog and give me some advice. He said he believed I should drop the bad language. My first thought was how can I get laughs and be clever if I don't use shocking language. Maybe I can't. Tough. I don't want to contribute any longer to this degrading of values that has crept into our culture. From now on I'm Teddy Terrific. Not Rots!
Let me know what you think. Post a comment.
It's gotten so that the Clinton popularized "suck" word had become acceptable for even small children to use in TV commercials. Our America has truly changed.
I am 72. Grew up with old fashion values. I was a Mormon for years. Never swore.
But now I am schitzy. I slip out of "crude but clever" to "refined Bucknell grad" at will. In my home and talking with my wife, no swearwords. Writing the blog and acting macho with my SAE fraternity brothers and selected others, I swear.
DECISION: No more swearwords in this blog. I had lunch with one of my closest friends who I love and respect. I had asked him to read my blog and give me some advice. He said he believed I should drop the bad language. My first thought was how can I get laughs and be clever if I don't use shocking language. Maybe I can't. Tough. I don't want to contribute any longer to this degrading of values that has crept into our culture. From now on I'm Teddy Terrific. Not Rots!
Let me know what you think. Post a comment.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Somalai Pirates; Keeping an Old Muslim Tradition
Another raid today by the Somalia pirates. This time they were chased off! Why don’t the media inform us that this is an old Muslim tradition. The pirates probably see nothing wrong with it.
From what I think I know, Mohammad, when he was run out of Mecca and fled to Medina, could not make a living there for his tribe. So he asked God (Allah) and was told to raid caravans. Raiding caravans en route to Mecca had long been a tradition among Arabs. God gave him the OK.
So now Muslims in Somalia are again raiding caravans to survive. Modern day caravans with loot on boats instead of on camels. What’s wrong with that? Nothing if you are a Radical Islamist who also believes in killing non-believers and terrorism as a tactic.
We are to politically correct to scream this out. No debate on the subject. No new solutions. We might offend good, non-radical Muslims. I don’t think so. I think we need less Bows to World Leaders and more Boots In The Ass. We aren’t going to talk people out of taking our stuff..
From what I think I know, Mohammad, when he was run out of Mecca and fled to Medina, could not make a living there for his tribe. So he asked God (Allah) and was told to raid caravans. Raiding caravans en route to Mecca had long been a tradition among Arabs. God gave him the OK.
So now Muslims in Somalia are again raiding caravans to survive. Modern day caravans with loot on boats instead of on camels. What’s wrong with that? Nothing if you are a Radical Islamist who also believes in killing non-believers and terrorism as a tactic.
We are to politically correct to scream this out. No debate on the subject. No new solutions. We might offend good, non-radical Muslims. I don’t think so. I think we need less Bows to World Leaders and more Boots In The Ass. We aren’t going to talk people out of taking our stuff..
Marijuana. It’s Good! It’s Bad! What’s The Difference?
I think medicinal marijuana has pretty well been accepted as helping cancer patients cope with nausea and other side effects of chemotherapy. I hear is it good for some other medical problems, too. I think it should be legally available for same.
However, in California, Weed users are gaming the system. They are using a law designed to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes to acquire it for recreational use.
Personally, I prefer the use of MaryJane over the use of alcohol. I would ban alcohol and make weed legal-based on my personal experiences with each. With alcohol I’ve experienced parental abuse, people being killed by drunken drivers, getting into bar fights, puking, hangovers, …vs getting mellow, enjoying sensory experiences, etc. with marijuana.
However, I am law abiding and believe strongly in that, too. If a state wants to make marajuanna available for recreational use, then they should pass a law and allow it. If they make it illegal for recreational use, then it is illegal.
The same attitude that encourages gaming the system for free disability and other free social benefits (including Handicapped Parking stickers), and Medicare rip-offs is being encouraged here. We are becoming an anti-government society that does not feel that we are the people; the government. We need to participate in governing ourselves to get democracy to work properly. Do you know who your Palm Coast and Florida representatives are? Did you vote? Use it or lose it!
However, in California, Weed users are gaming the system. They are using a law designed to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes to acquire it for recreational use.
Personally, I prefer the use of MaryJane over the use of alcohol. I would ban alcohol and make weed legal-based on my personal experiences with each. With alcohol I’ve experienced parental abuse, people being killed by drunken drivers, getting into bar fights, puking, hangovers, …vs getting mellow, enjoying sensory experiences, etc. with marijuana.
However, I am law abiding and believe strongly in that, too. If a state wants to make marajuanna available for recreational use, then they should pass a law and allow it. If they make it illegal for recreational use, then it is illegal.
The same attitude that encourages gaming the system for free disability and other free social benefits (including Handicapped Parking stickers), and Medicare rip-offs is being encouraged here. We are becoming an anti-government society that does not feel that we are the people; the government. We need to participate in governing ourselves to get democracy to work properly. Do you know who your Palm Coast and Florida representatives are? Did you vote? Use it or lose it!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
“Don’t Squeeze My Tits”
“I told you!” “I Told You !”
That’s all I hear from my wife as she watches the news reports that mammograms are being debunked.
She had one when she was young…it was the thing to do. Even as a mother who had nursed four children with no history of breast cancer in her family, she had one. Even though nuns with a family history of breast cancer were the highest victims of the disease she had one. She did what she was told.
About a year or so ago she had another. They squeezed her breast so hard it had a black and blue mark for several weeks. One nipple became inverted and still is, I think. She complained to the lab. They said it was nothing. She believed them because she wanted to. I wanted her to sue. We need the money. Oh, no. Nice people don’t sue. She gets more reward bitching about mammograms and swearing never to have another.
And now she is being proven to be right. At least when it comes to the expense and practicality of urging every woman to get one regularly. And now they are squeezing lots of silicone! What a rip off. Caching! Caching! In flows the money.
Ladies, keep your tits in your bras until they sort this issue out.
That’s all I hear from my wife as she watches the news reports that mammograms are being debunked.
She had one when she was young…it was the thing to do. Even as a mother who had nursed four children with no history of breast cancer in her family, she had one. Even though nuns with a family history of breast cancer were the highest victims of the disease she had one. She did what she was told.
About a year or so ago she had another. They squeezed her breast so hard it had a black and blue mark for several weeks. One nipple became inverted and still is, I think. She complained to the lab. They said it was nothing. She believed them because she wanted to. I wanted her to sue. We need the money. Oh, no. Nice people don’t sue. She gets more reward bitching about mammograms and swearing never to have another.
And now she is being proven to be right. At least when it comes to the expense and practicality of urging every woman to get one regularly. And now they are squeezing lots of silicone! What a rip off. Caching! Caching! In flows the money.
Ladies, keep your tits in your bras until they sort this issue out.
The Grass in California
I thought it would be good to keep up to date on how the grass is growing in California. Here is something I copied from http://artistsforaccess.org/ .
Florida coud replace their dependence on oranges-which are now mostly coming from South America. "Florida doen't grow Weed, we grow Grass!"
As of 11/16/09
The Medicinal Flowers
Lavender Exotica*
Dragon’s Breath*
Bubba Kush
OG Kush*
BC Purps*
Jack Berry
Cat Piss*
Grape Ape*
NY Soma
Critical Mass
Skunk
*Featured Strain from 99collective.com
Gram of Any Strain on Menu- $20
Available only as Grams:
Bubblegum Kush
Purple Cannabis Hash
½ Gram $20 – 1 Gram $30 – 2 Grams $50
Chocolate Chip Cookie - 2 Pack
Emerald Blend Joint (½ Gram)
OG Kush Premium Joint (½ Gram)
Specials:
Buy a Joint and Cookie 2 Pack: Get $5 off!
Mix and Match an Ounce for $420!
Buy ½ oz: Get $20 worth of medicine for Free!
Buy 4 Grams: Get $5 off!
Refer a Friend! Get $10 off your next purchase!
Return 20 Bottles: Get a Free Gram!
Florida coud replace their dependence on oranges-which are now mostly coming from South America. "Florida doen't grow Weed, we grow Grass!"
As of 11/16/09
The Medicinal Flowers
Lavender Exotica*
Dragon’s Breath*
Bubba Kush
OG Kush*
BC Purps*
Jack Berry
Cat Piss*
Grape Ape*
NY Soma
Critical Mass
Skunk
*Featured Strain from 99collective.com
Gram of Any Strain on Menu- $20
Available only as Grams:
Bubblegum Kush
Purple Cannabis Hash
½ Gram $20 – 1 Gram $30 – 2 Grams $50
Chocolate Chip Cookie - 2 Pack
Emerald Blend Joint (½ Gram)
OG Kush Premium Joint (½ Gram)
Specials:
Buy a Joint and Cookie 2 Pack: Get $5 off!
Mix and Match an Ounce for $420!
Buy ½ oz: Get $20 worth of medicine for Free!
Buy 4 Grams: Get $5 off!
Refer a Friend! Get $10 off your next purchase!
Return 20 Bottles: Get a Free Gram!
What Sarah Palin Knows That We Don’t
What Sarah Palin knows that we don’t is why the hell she isn’t home getting laid and taking care of the kids.
What is she up to? I can’t watch TV without seeing somebody showing snippets from her Oprah interview and talking about what she did or should have done in the past. But they only come up with lame guesses as to what she has in mind for her future.
She is either so smart she is setting us up for something. And even her supporters don’t want her to be that smart. Or she is so dumb, that she is going to allow herself to be in the spotlight and made fun of all over again.
So far, it looks like this to me… She said she needed money. So she wrote a book, or somebody did, and she had to go on a book tour to promote it.
Well, she sure is an over-achiever. The book reaches the top of the best seller list before anyone reads it, and she’s all over the news getting it publicity. She’s scheduled for appearances on TV other authors would die for. She has created more Buzz than a feminist’s vibrator. But no one is talking about the book, or what’s in the book.
Why are we all getting off on her? I still don’t know. One of the only two comments my blogging has received so far was from Dan in response to my post about Sarah Palin. Dan agreed he hates her, but didn’t really convince me he had the answer to why she touches so many hatestrings and heartstrings. He sounds a bit elitist and condescending. Passionate, but unconvincing. He didn’t even acknowledge much less explain why she has tons of equally passionate supporters. Not a good, reasoned answer.
So maybe she has just given up making sandwiches for all the kids, nurturing the newest one, counseling the rogue daughter and connubial communion with the hunk so she can gain freedoms granted by the possession of lots of money. Our Constitution grants us many valuable freedoms. A large pile of gelt does, too.
We should find out soon. She will continue to dominate the news and Obama will be off the hook for a while from pundits who think he is deliberatative and making good decisions and those who believe he even has a hard time deciding which hand to wipe his ass with. Between the reporting on her clothes, her misspeaks, the size of the crowds she draws, and whether she is the antichrist or a saint, we are sure to get a better idea of what she is up to, if anything.
Me? I’m worried about my bills and my health. My kids and my soul. It’s entertaining, this Sarah stuff. But not very relevant.
What is she up to? I can’t watch TV without seeing somebody showing snippets from her Oprah interview and talking about what she did or should have done in the past. But they only come up with lame guesses as to what she has in mind for her future.
She is either so smart she is setting us up for something. And even her supporters don’t want her to be that smart. Or she is so dumb, that she is going to allow herself to be in the spotlight and made fun of all over again.
So far, it looks like this to me… She said she needed money. So she wrote a book, or somebody did, and she had to go on a book tour to promote it.
Well, she sure is an over-achiever. The book reaches the top of the best seller list before anyone reads it, and she’s all over the news getting it publicity. She’s scheduled for appearances on TV other authors would die for. She has created more Buzz than a feminist’s vibrator. But no one is talking about the book, or what’s in the book.
Why are we all getting off on her? I still don’t know. One of the only two comments my blogging has received so far was from Dan in response to my post about Sarah Palin. Dan agreed he hates her, but didn’t really convince me he had the answer to why she touches so many hatestrings and heartstrings. He sounds a bit elitist and condescending. Passionate, but unconvincing. He didn’t even acknowledge much less explain why she has tons of equally passionate supporters. Not a good, reasoned answer.
So maybe she has just given up making sandwiches for all the kids, nurturing the newest one, counseling the rogue daughter and connubial communion with the hunk so she can gain freedoms granted by the possession of lots of money. Our Constitution grants us many valuable freedoms. A large pile of gelt does, too.
We should find out soon. She will continue to dominate the news and Obama will be off the hook for a while from pundits who think he is deliberatative and making good decisions and those who believe he even has a hard time deciding which hand to wipe his ass with. Between the reporting on her clothes, her misspeaks, the size of the crowds she draws, and whether she is the antichrist or a saint, we are sure to get a better idea of what she is up to, if anything.
Me? I’m worried about my bills and my health. My kids and my soul. It’s entertaining, this Sarah stuff. But not very relevant.
Monday, November 16, 2009
National Guard Snatched from Volusia
GoToby.com reports today that Palm Coast will be the new site for the National Guard facility currently located in our neighboring Volusia County (wherin lies Daytona Beach):
"Palm Coast, FL – November 16, 2009 – There's more news on the Flagler County economic development front. A lease agreement has been reached, pending Flagler County Council's approval tonight, with the Florida Department of Military Affairs on behalf of the Florida Army National Guard for the construction of an 80,000+ square foot Armed Forces Reserve Center on county-owned land near the airport. Council's approval is expected..."
SEE TOBY'S ENTIRE ARTICLE AT:
http://www.gotoby.com/news.php?id=868
"Palm Coast, FL – November 16, 2009 – There's more news on the Flagler County economic development front. A lease agreement has been reached, pending Flagler County Council's approval tonight, with the Florida Department of Military Affairs on behalf of the Florida Army National Guard for the construction of an 80,000+ square foot Armed Forces Reserve Center on county-owned land near the airport. Council's approval is expected..."
SEE TOBY'S ENTIRE ARTICLE AT:
http://www.gotoby.com/news.php?id=868
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Seven Guys From Nashville Tennesee Singing Gospel music? And singing a cappella in Trinity Presbyterian, the “church of the choosen frozen”? What kind of musical potpourri would that be?
Well I went today. And it was great. Really great. Seven soloists. Two of who sometimes added “vocal percussion” and/or vocal bass guitar sounds. A real treat. Trinity Presby moves up a notch in the Palm Coast competition between churches for offering the best musical programs.
The group is called Vocal Union They have a “Best Religious Album of the Year” and have performed at the White House twice and at Carnegie Hall. We bought four albums after the show.
They could use a better humorist to write their between-songs patter, but the music was outstanding! I am now even more motivated to learn how to post WAV and video files on this blog. Soon as I can, I will post a few of their tunes.
Well I went today. And it was great. Really great. Seven soloists. Two of who sometimes added “vocal percussion” and/or vocal bass guitar sounds. A real treat. Trinity Presby moves up a notch in the Palm Coast competition between churches for offering the best musical programs.
The group is called Vocal Union They have a “Best Religious Album of the Year” and have performed at the White House twice and at Carnegie Hall. We bought four albums after the show.
They could use a better humorist to write their between-songs patter, but the music was outstanding! I am now even more motivated to learn how to post WAV and video files on this blog. Soon as I can, I will post a few of their tunes.
Why Do Our Fingers Tingle, Is That God?
I was sitting in my special chair early this morning starting to meditate. Sitting straight up nice. I took a couple deep breaths. I turned my palms upward and felt my fingers tingle...no, not quite a tingle. More a "ready to feel something" feeling.
Or is it "ready to receive" some energy information our science has not yet discovered? The gesture is eons old. A universal supplication. What the hell is going on? I am sure a neurologist would have some erudite explaination. If not him, then a psychologist. But...
I choose to believe there is a God behind the veil and that God loves me. I want to believe this. I'm old; I need to. And it is much more comforting than the fear of God stuff I heard at the Islamic Center or thinking I will just be dirt or ashes.
I am going back to the chair now to feel the tingle, be conscious of my breathing and say a mantra or something to put me in that pleasant state of acute awareness with no thoughts-no monkeys in my head chattering about bills, blog posts...
Think about it. Think about not thinking. Meditate.
Or is it "ready to receive" some energy information our science has not yet discovered? The gesture is eons old. A universal supplication. What the hell is going on? I am sure a neurologist would have some erudite explaination. If not him, then a psychologist. But...
I choose to believe there is a God behind the veil and that God loves me. I want to believe this. I'm old; I need to. And it is much more comforting than the fear of God stuff I heard at the Islamic Center or thinking I will just be dirt or ashes.
I am going back to the chair now to feel the tingle, be conscious of my breathing and say a mantra or something to put me in that pleasant state of acute awareness with no thoughts-no monkeys in my head chattering about bills, blog posts...
Think about it. Think about not thinking. Meditate.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Muslims, Mormons, Catholics and Me
My posts often wander off the topic of Palm Coast and talk about the religions and "spirituality" paths I explore on this journey toward my Final Solution.
Here is a tidbit that might arouse the interest of non-Catholics. The Catholic Bible is bigger than the Protestant Bible!
Deuterocanonical books
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuterocanonical_books
"Deuterocanonical Books" is a term used since the sixteenth century in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Old Testament that are not part of the Jewish Bible.
The term is used in contrast to the protocanonical books, which are contained in the Hebrew Bible. This distinction had previously contributed to debate in the early Church about whether they should be read in the churches and thus be classified as canonical texts.
The Deuterocanonical books are considered canonical by Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, but are considered non-canonical by Protestants.
Some editions of the Catholic Bible include text from both deuterocanonical and non-canonical scriptures in a single section designated 'Apocrypha'.
And here is something to piss them off:
http://www.cathtruth.com/catholicbible/
"As Catholics were responsible for writing the New Testament (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit), the Catholic Church doesn't "interpret" the Bible. We explain it. Protestants can only "interpret", because they are not the author (guided by the Holy Spirit), and therefore, can only guess at the possible meaning of a chapter, passage or phrase, just as anyone can only guess at any author's intentions in any other book. As the author, the Catholic Church is the only proper authority to consult in matters pertaining to the Bible."
Of course. Of course. Off Course!
Mormons have the True Church; they have a record of Jesus’ visit to the Americas. Mohammed came after Jesus, so his followers should rule. The Catholics wrote the book, they should know. Pagans, athiests, philosophers, scientists; they each know the real truth.
Let’s kill each other and find out whose right! Go, Go, Nuclear!
God Bless You! Nameste’ and
Kiss Your Ass GoodBye
Here is a tidbit that might arouse the interest of non-Catholics. The Catholic Bible is bigger than the Protestant Bible!
Deuterocanonical books
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuterocanonical_books
"Deuterocanonical Books" is a term used since the sixteenth century in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Old Testament that are not part of the Jewish Bible.
The term is used in contrast to the protocanonical books, which are contained in the Hebrew Bible. This distinction had previously contributed to debate in the early Church about whether they should be read in the churches and thus be classified as canonical texts.
The Deuterocanonical books are considered canonical by Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, but are considered non-canonical by Protestants.
Some editions of the Catholic Bible include text from both deuterocanonical and non-canonical scriptures in a single section designated 'Apocrypha'.
And here is something to piss them off:
http://www.cathtruth.com/catholicbible/
"As Catholics were responsible for writing the New Testament (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit), the Catholic Church doesn't "interpret" the Bible. We explain it. Protestants can only "interpret", because they are not the author (guided by the Holy Spirit), and therefore, can only guess at the possible meaning of a chapter, passage or phrase, just as anyone can only guess at any author's intentions in any other book. As the author, the Catholic Church is the only proper authority to consult in matters pertaining to the Bible."
Of course. Of course. Off Course!
Mormons have the True Church; they have a record of Jesus’ visit to the Americas. Mohammed came after Jesus, so his followers should rule. The Catholics wrote the book, they should know. Pagans, athiests, philosophers, scientists; they each know the real truth.
Let’s kill each other and find out whose right! Go, Go, Nuclear!
God Bless You! Nameste’ and
Kiss Your Ass GoodBye
How Many Polaks Does It Take To Change A Light Bulb
This use to be an old joke. Substiute any ethnic you want to charactarize as stupid.
Now it refers to my Green Light bulbs. It takes at least two. One to hold the lamp steady the other to carefully remove the bulb...its filled with Mercury, you know.
The anti-greeners are having a "hey" day warning us about the hazards of the new bulb and how the New Socialism will soon have our government regulating everything from how we dispose of condoms to at what temperature we must set our thermostats. Like everything, a grain of truth and a ton of bullshit.
Now it refers to my Green Light bulbs. It takes at least two. One to hold the lamp steady the other to carefully remove the bulb...its filled with Mercury, you know.
The anti-greeners are having a "hey" day warning us about the hazards of the new bulb and how the New Socialism will soon have our government regulating everything from how we dispose of condoms to at what temperature we must set our thermostats. Like everything, a grain of truth and a ton of bullshit.
Soldiers! Take Off Your Uniforms!
Now Islamic terrorists are going to be moved to New York and treated as US citizens. Incarcerated citizens, but Judicially Empowered, none the less. All because of an ill conceived campaign promise and a stubborn streak and the fact that they did not wear a uniform when they were attempting to kill us.
If you don’t remember history, it will repeat itself, or something like that.
Isn’t anyone thinking about how, during our Revolutionary War, we kicked the ass of the British as they paraded around in their uniforms while we hid in the woods and shot the hell out of them?
Can’t we make the connection about Jihadists hiding in Mosques and residential areas in Afganistan? Is “That’s Not Fair” All we can say or do about it? That and trying to ‘move the minds of reasonable people everywhere’ ??? Think that will make them stop? Let’s have a Summit Conference on "How to deal with religious fervor". What horses asses we are.
Of course the Afgans (and Independent Tribesmen) think we are an occupying force; We go around dressed up in uniforms! Do we really think a marine would be any less a Marine if he were asked to camouflage in Muslim street clothes instead of just wearing facial hair? Give me a break. Disguising yourself to blend in with the sand and terrain may be ok for tanks and Humvees, but that’s not good enough for our fighting forces in Muslim cities and towns.
Aren’t we smart enough to come out with a Velcro patch or something that can be slapped on to immediately identify our own “friendly forces” when we raid a terrorist’s house or are in active combat? Or hopefully blow up a radical Islamist Mosque.
If this is already universally being done, I’m not seeing it shown or talked about anywhere on all the media I skim for news.
Yes. Support the troops. Bag those uniforms. And imprison captured enemies until the war is over regardless of whether you capture a few mistakes. Radical Muslim women and children are killing our sons and daughters. And we want to be ‘fair’ and politically correct? What the hell is wrong with us? Remember the Alamo hell. Remember our Revolutionary War heros and keep training our women to fly planes and shoot guns.
World Peace is my goal and should be everyone’s. But let’s argue like hell about the strategy and tactics.
"God Bless America" is still, thankfully, politically correct. And true. He,She, It sure did bless this country…for a while. That's why people want to take it from us. If the whole world could do an immediate, flash cut to a peaceful One World, that would be fine. But an iterative strategy with dethroneing America as the first draft? Forgettabout It!
What say you? If anyone reads this, leave a comment
God Bless, Namaste’
If you don’t remember history, it will repeat itself, or something like that.
Isn’t anyone thinking about how, during our Revolutionary War, we kicked the ass of the British as they paraded around in their uniforms while we hid in the woods and shot the hell out of them?
Can’t we make the connection about Jihadists hiding in Mosques and residential areas in Afganistan? Is “That’s Not Fair” All we can say or do about it? That and trying to ‘move the minds of reasonable people everywhere’ ??? Think that will make them stop? Let’s have a Summit Conference on "How to deal with religious fervor". What horses asses we are.
Of course the Afgans (and Independent Tribesmen) think we are an occupying force; We go around dressed up in uniforms! Do we really think a marine would be any less a Marine if he were asked to camouflage in Muslim street clothes instead of just wearing facial hair? Give me a break. Disguising yourself to blend in with the sand and terrain may be ok for tanks and Humvees, but that’s not good enough for our fighting forces in Muslim cities and towns.
Aren’t we smart enough to come out with a Velcro patch or something that can be slapped on to immediately identify our own “friendly forces” when we raid a terrorist’s house or are in active combat? Or hopefully blow up a radical Islamist Mosque.
If this is already universally being done, I’m not seeing it shown or talked about anywhere on all the media I skim for news.
Yes. Support the troops. Bag those uniforms. And imprison captured enemies until the war is over regardless of whether you capture a few mistakes. Radical Muslim women and children are killing our sons and daughters. And we want to be ‘fair’ and politically correct? What the hell is wrong with us? Remember the Alamo hell. Remember our Revolutionary War heros and keep training our women to fly planes and shoot guns.
World Peace is my goal and should be everyone’s. But let’s argue like hell about the strategy and tactics.
"God Bless America" is still, thankfully, politically correct. And true. He,She, It sure did bless this country…for a while. That's why people want to take it from us. If the whole world could do an immediate, flash cut to a peaceful One World, that would be fine. But an iterative strategy with dethroneing America as the first draft? Forgettabout It!
What say you? If anyone reads this, leave a comment
God Bless, Namaste’
Muslims are Boring
I went to the St. Augustine Muslim mosque. It wasn't a mosque. It was an Islamic center. Have to research the difference. Saw lots of shoes. Took mine off, too. The shoe box shelf was full so I just left mine there. Wore some blue Sketcher slip-ons instead of my normal Docksiders so I would fit in better.
There were two doors. One said Mens Entrance the other Womens. I thought I was in the restroom area at some kind of a Walmart's or something. Went in the men's. Small entryway. Another door. Scared me shitless. I was late. The thing had started. In I went.
The room was filled with ordinary folks squatting. I was surprised. I expected to see a room full of Afro Americans and Arab looking people. This looked more like the gang of day laborers that gathers at the Seven Eleven looking to be picked up.
The vibes were very good. There was a raghead up front speaking sometimes in English, sometimes in what I think was Arabic or something, and often chanting like a Cantor with a very nice voice. The service sounded a bit like when I went to my Mom's church, Mount Carmel Catholic in Asbury Park, when the service was in latin. Lots and lots of fear God stuff. Allah. The God of Abraham. The God of the Muslims and the Christians and the Jews. I loved that. Partial Unity.
I get upset when I see the press demeaning "Allah Akbar" just because that terrorist used it. I use it. I think it means God is Great. Whoever he, she or it is...my veil to the beyond is knitted quite thick and I only get an occasional glimpse over there and I am nearsighted but I have a vivid imagination.
Anyway, he/she/it sure as hell is great. Look at a spider under a microscope and ponder the original source of its DNA. There is no doubt in my mind that God is pretty bright and that someone with a sense of humor origionaly put this mess of sensory input we call 'Our World' together. So let's just argue about the How, When and Where of it all.
Like my white blood cells must be continually arguing about who the hell they are dying for, and who started this whole Ted Lesher thing anyway. (I don't think they are smart enough to ponder why there is a Ted Lesher to begin with like you and I do)
Once inside, what I heard was a ho-hum rant about how Great Allah was, Praise Allah, Fear Allah, Allah will reward you, Allah will punish you... how they should do their circle-the-square thing; Hadim, 'go to Mecca' once a year or at least once a lifetime. Observe the teachings of the Quoran-but no mention of Jihad!!!
A guy giving off good vibes saw me when I came in, put my back against the wall for support, and slid down into a sitting position with my legs poking forward and brought me a nice plastic chair. They have them for old people to sit in. I did get down and scrape my forhead with them because I really do believe their is a good God and at the end I stood sholder to shoulder with them to show I wanted to be brothers with them as long as they agreed with me.
Yusef, my Muslim Pizza Parlor Friend, greeted me warmly at the end and asked how I liked it. I told him honestly I liked what I heard. He smiled and said I should meet the Imam whereupon he shouted a word (I hope it wasn't "Kufar" and the Imam came down and warmly greeted me.
I told him I liked his service, that nothing he said offended me, that I wanted to come back." He was as nice or nicer to me than any Priest or Pastor I had met.
And there was no collection. Only a big box he pointed to in the back at the end of the service and a few people actually went up and put something in it . I took out my wallet and took out my bills from it. I only had two twentys and I couldn't part with one of them, so I turned toward the wall, put the twenties back in the wallet and the wallet back in my pocket and slid out the door all smiles.
I will go again. And write more blogs. I need to know. I will look for a Missel or book or something to let me know more about what they are saying and chanting in MuslimSpeak. I want to know there are lots of good Muslims out there who are not Jihadists. I want them to rat on their radical brothers. I want to believe they have the same ideals I read about in Fire on Ice and when Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali. I want to think they walk their talk better than many of my church going friends.
You manifest what you think and say...so I will stay positive until I have to shoot some fanatical son-of-a-bitch. And I won't care if he is an Afro-American car jacker, a Jihadist Muslim or some crazy white bastard who wants my wallet at the cash machine.
You know I have this unrelenting compulsion to try for a laugh about everything. I hope you will love me anyway! God Bless! Namaste'
There were two doors. One said Mens Entrance the other Womens. I thought I was in the restroom area at some kind of a Walmart's or something. Went in the men's. Small entryway. Another door. Scared me shitless. I was late. The thing had started. In I went.
The room was filled with ordinary folks squatting. I was surprised. I expected to see a room full of Afro Americans and Arab looking people. This looked more like the gang of day laborers that gathers at the Seven Eleven looking to be picked up.
The vibes were very good. There was a raghead up front speaking sometimes in English, sometimes in what I think was Arabic or something, and often chanting like a Cantor with a very nice voice. The service sounded a bit like when I went to my Mom's church, Mount Carmel Catholic in Asbury Park, when the service was in latin. Lots and lots of fear God stuff. Allah. The God of Abraham. The God of the Muslims and the Christians and the Jews. I loved that. Partial Unity.
I get upset when I see the press demeaning "Allah Akbar" just because that terrorist used it. I use it. I think it means God is Great. Whoever he, she or it is...my veil to the beyond is knitted quite thick and I only get an occasional glimpse over there and I am nearsighted but I have a vivid imagination.
Anyway, he/she/it sure as hell is great. Look at a spider under a microscope and ponder the original source of its DNA. There is no doubt in my mind that God is pretty bright and that someone with a sense of humor origionaly put this mess of sensory input we call 'Our World' together. So let's just argue about the How, When and Where of it all.
Like my white blood cells must be continually arguing about who the hell they are dying for, and who started this whole Ted Lesher thing anyway. (I don't think they are smart enough to ponder why there is a Ted Lesher to begin with like you and I do)
Once inside, what I heard was a ho-hum rant about how Great Allah was, Praise Allah, Fear Allah, Allah will reward you, Allah will punish you... how they should do their circle-the-square thing; Hadim, 'go to Mecca' once a year or at least once a lifetime. Observe the teachings of the Quoran-but no mention of Jihad!!!
A guy giving off good vibes saw me when I came in, put my back against the wall for support, and slid down into a sitting position with my legs poking forward and brought me a nice plastic chair. They have them for old people to sit in. I did get down and scrape my forhead with them because I really do believe their is a good God and at the end I stood sholder to shoulder with them to show I wanted to be brothers with them as long as they agreed with me.
Yusef, my Muslim Pizza Parlor Friend, greeted me warmly at the end and asked how I liked it. I told him honestly I liked what I heard. He smiled and said I should meet the Imam whereupon he shouted a word (I hope it wasn't "Kufar" and the Imam came down and warmly greeted me.
I told him I liked his service, that nothing he said offended me, that I wanted to come back." He was as nice or nicer to me than any Priest or Pastor I had met.
And there was no collection. Only a big box he pointed to in the back at the end of the service and a few people actually went up and put something in it . I took out my wallet and took out my bills from it. I only had two twentys and I couldn't part with one of them, so I turned toward the wall, put the twenties back in the wallet and the wallet back in my pocket and slid out the door all smiles.
I will go again. And write more blogs. I need to know. I will look for a Missel or book or something to let me know more about what they are saying and chanting in MuslimSpeak. I want to know there are lots of good Muslims out there who are not Jihadists. I want them to rat on their radical brothers. I want to believe they have the same ideals I read about in Fire on Ice and when Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali. I want to think they walk their talk better than many of my church going friends.
You manifest what you think and say...so I will stay positive until I have to shoot some fanatical son-of-a-bitch. And I won't care if he is an Afro-American car jacker, a Jihadist Muslim or some crazy white bastard who wants my wallet at the cash machine.
You know I have this unrelenting compulsion to try for a laugh about everything. I hope you will love me anyway! God Bless! Namaste'
Friday, November 13, 2009
Sarah Palin and God
I don't understand it. I just don't. This post isn't like all my others. It isn't written so I can laugh at myself. I really worry, I am too old and out of it to understand the Sarah Palin Syndrome.
I pride myself in being young at heart and with it. I even want to campaign for the legalization of weed. But I don't understand what is tapping into the emotions of so many people when they hear or read the words 'Sarah Palin'.
Oh, I know all about the political polarization. The wars between Progressives and Conservatives. I follow them closely and love the philosophical battlefield skirmishes. I'm learning lots of stuff and constantly adjusting my moral compass.
But just how does Sara tap so quickly into so many emotional psyches?
My world is not getting as emotionally excited about Muslim extremists in our Mosques. (My world being "at least 60% of the Progressives AND 60% of the Conservatives). My world isn't even getting that quickly excited about God... Christmas, Religion in the Schools, all the well-established fight venues about God Issues are not making it. The God Fights are interesting, but not Sarah Palin interesting.
Sarah has it! Just what? I don't know. My wife loves her. Identifies with her. Doesn't want to read her book or know about her politics. She just loves her. My neice and nephew (thirty somethings) hate her. I don't dare bring her name up. I love them and would be on their shit list in about one moment if I did.
And Me? Sara really interests me as a phenominon. She's having an effect. I can't stand not being able to analyze how why it happens and come up with a nice simple answer. And I am very good at that. Analyzing stuff. All my answers please me no end...until I change them.
I think Sally is young and beautiful and I love to look at her and listen to her talk (not for what she says, just for her voice-just like I like to hear that actress' voice in Fargo and the phychiatrist lady's on the Sopranos).
But she generates no lust in me. I can't even think about what it would be like to have her. And that is a real Huh??? for me. My doctor Fruehan thinks I even have sexual thoughts about chickens and other small animals. (SMALL animals...performance anxiety fear! Too much Cialis and not enough Action??)
And I find nothing she says politically new and provactive. Same ole, same ole.
Well, maybe I can't help trying to make myself laugh while writing this. But I really don't understand how I can vicariously tap into having an immediate and strong emotion reaction for and immediate and strong emotion reaction against Sarah Palin so I can understand my world.
Share a release with me. Comment on why you hate or love Sara Pee.
I pride myself in being young at heart and with it. I even want to campaign for the legalization of weed. But I don't understand what is tapping into the emotions of so many people when they hear or read the words 'Sarah Palin'.
Oh, I know all about the political polarization. The wars between Progressives and Conservatives. I follow them closely and love the philosophical battlefield skirmishes. I'm learning lots of stuff and constantly adjusting my moral compass.
But just how does Sara tap so quickly into so many emotional psyches?
My world is not getting as emotionally excited about Muslim extremists in our Mosques. (My world being "at least 60% of the Progressives AND 60% of the Conservatives). My world isn't even getting that quickly excited about God... Christmas, Religion in the Schools, all the well-established fight venues about God Issues are not making it. The God Fights are interesting, but not Sarah Palin interesting.
Sarah has it! Just what? I don't know. My wife loves her. Identifies with her. Doesn't want to read her book or know about her politics. She just loves her. My neice and nephew (thirty somethings) hate her. I don't dare bring her name up. I love them and would be on their shit list in about one moment if I did.
And Me? Sara really interests me as a phenominon. She's having an effect. I can't stand not being able to analyze how why it happens and come up with a nice simple answer. And I am very good at that. Analyzing stuff. All my answers please me no end...until I change them.
I think Sally is young and beautiful and I love to look at her and listen to her talk (not for what she says, just for her voice-just like I like to hear that actress' voice in Fargo and the phychiatrist lady's on the Sopranos).
But she generates no lust in me. I can't even think about what it would be like to have her. And that is a real Huh??? for me. My doctor Fruehan thinks I even have sexual thoughts about chickens and other small animals. (SMALL animals...performance anxiety fear! Too much Cialis and not enough Action??)
And I find nothing she says politically new and provactive. Same ole, same ole.
Well, maybe I can't help trying to make myself laugh while writing this. But I really don't understand how I can vicariously tap into having an immediate and strong emotion reaction for and immediate and strong emotion reaction against Sarah Palin so I can understand my world.
Share a release with me. Comment on why you hate or love Sara Pee.
Living Poor In Palm Coast
It's been quite and adventure. My financial decline from the days when I had two BMW'S and a Mercedes and a big house and eating at least two meals a day at good restaurants to eating beans and Mahatma brown rice, shopping at Goodwill and Beall's Outlet Center, and selling stuff to supplement the inflation eroded social security checks.
It's the selling stuff that drives me nuts. First I have to argue with Barbara about why I want to sell off the two blue lamps she is saving in the garage but don't want to sell those five extra fishing poles I might use some time if I ever go fishing again.
I get distracted into one of my anger management techniques. Should I let it all out and call her a self-absorbed bitch who only thinks about herself and what she wants. Should I go to my Spiritual Chair and read an article from Sacred Journey The Journal of Fellowship in Prayer or Daily Meditations for Practicing The Course by Karen Kasey? Or put on my headset and listen to Sandi Patti on my iPhone?
But the how to sell it is the hardest decision. I have run ads in the PennySaver. Too much trouble and cost. I have had garage sales. Much too much trouble. I love to go to them but dragging stuff in and out of my dumpster of a garage is too much work, arguing with people about whether its worth twenty five cents or fifty cents, watching them steal the stuff and drive away, making and putting out signs, running an ad getting rained on, making change, tooo much!
Fun to attend and discover treasures, awful to hold one. And my friend just paid a fine $150 for holding too many. City rules you know...you can only have I think two per year.
How to sell our stuff. Our local paper has become just a flyer in the Daytona rag. Who wants to clutter their drive with that irrelevant recycleable all week for the 'Palm Coast Biweekly Insert". And the insert stinks. Can't do a classified ad there.
CraigsList? No Palm Coast Craigslist. Do I advertise in the Daytona Beach Craigslist or the St. Augustine Craigslist? Nahh. It's getting smushed by the Pilgrims Progress Victorians, anyway and will soon expire, I think. Insufficient Business Model. Revenue dysfunction. Premature elimination.
I even took a booth at the St. Augustine Flee Market for a month. Loved watching and talking with the strange and the proper, the sexy and the scary that paraded past my booth. Even sold a lot of stuff off my tables. Got some money. Liked it.
Subbed for a friend and sold at a booth at the Big Show. The Daytona Flea market. That was fun too. Even got to work a portable Visa Merchant Account machine. But like a garage sale, it takes a lot of preparation; you have to show up (big Ugggh) and it runs on weekends. When you are out of work, this does not matter too much but this is football season. Forgettabout it!
Find out what you like to do, do it with passion and to perfection. The money will come (maybe, you need luck, too). I am publishing my garage sale. Writing it. Putting it out on http://www.palmcoastgaragesale.com/. Photos, videos, free stuff, junk, treasures, anything I want. Silent Auctions. Firm Prices. Highest Bid until sold. I got all kinds of fun ideas and Andy, my website pro at http://creativepages.info/ is helping me (at a 'for charitable causes' rate).
It's the selling stuff that drives me nuts. First I have to argue with Barbara about why I want to sell off the two blue lamps she is saving in the garage but don't want to sell those five extra fishing poles I might use some time if I ever go fishing again.
I get distracted into one of my anger management techniques. Should I let it all out and call her a self-absorbed bitch who only thinks about herself and what she wants. Should I go to my Spiritual Chair and read an article from Sacred Journey The Journal of Fellowship in Prayer or Daily Meditations for Practicing The Course by Karen Kasey? Or put on my headset and listen to Sandi Patti on my iPhone?
But the how to sell it is the hardest decision. I have run ads in the PennySaver. Too much trouble and cost. I have had garage sales. Much too much trouble. I love to go to them but dragging stuff in and out of my dumpster of a garage is too much work, arguing with people about whether its worth twenty five cents or fifty cents, watching them steal the stuff and drive away, making and putting out signs, running an ad getting rained on, making change, tooo much!
Fun to attend and discover treasures, awful to hold one. And my friend just paid a fine $150 for holding too many. City rules you know...you can only have I think two per year.
How to sell our stuff. Our local paper has become just a flyer in the Daytona rag. Who wants to clutter their drive with that irrelevant recycleable all week for the 'Palm Coast Biweekly Insert". And the insert stinks. Can't do a classified ad there.
CraigsList? No Palm Coast Craigslist. Do I advertise in the Daytona Beach Craigslist or the St. Augustine Craigslist? Nahh. It's getting smushed by the Pilgrims Progress Victorians, anyway and will soon expire, I think. Insufficient Business Model. Revenue dysfunction. Premature elimination.
I even took a booth at the St. Augustine Flee Market for a month. Loved watching and talking with the strange and the proper, the sexy and the scary that paraded past my booth. Even sold a lot of stuff off my tables. Got some money. Liked it.
Subbed for a friend and sold at a booth at the Big Show. The Daytona Flea market. That was fun too. Even got to work a portable Visa Merchant Account machine. But like a garage sale, it takes a lot of preparation; you have to show up (big Ugggh) and it runs on weekends. When you are out of work, this does not matter too much but this is football season. Forgettabout it!
Find out what you like to do, do it with passion and to perfection. The money will come (maybe, you need luck, too). I am publishing my garage sale. Writing it. Putting it out on http://www.palmcoastgaragesale.com/. Photos, videos, free stuff, junk, treasures, anything I want. Silent Auctions. Firm Prices. Highest Bid until sold. I got all kinds of fun ideas and Andy, my website pro at http://creativepages.info/ is helping me (at a 'for charitable causes' rate).
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