Me & My Thoughts

Me & My Thoughts
Thanks to Sameera Malinda of Sri Lanka for this piece. I don't know how true it is, but it is funny.. Take a look:

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.
As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

If zis mad you smil, pleas pas on to oza pepl Full Story Here

I'm a little miffed that I have to do this again, but here goes. Technology is not foolproof.

My second trip to California this year has so far gone very well. With the exception of a run-in - almost - with a TSA lackey who wanted to check my sandals. Since I wouldn't take them off and walk barefoot so that they could be scanned/x-rayed or whatever. These are the sandals they wanted me to x-ray. When I was in California last time, I wore them home and the screeners told me it was fine. I guess the screener thought it was funny when he placed the wand in a few choice areas of my torso, and said that if I wasn't comfortable it could be done in private. How about you continue to violate me in public where everyone can see you buddy?

I have to give kudos to Southwest, and I don't care what anyone says about them. They left Baltimore on time, arrived early in San Diego, and left San Diego 10 minutes or so late because of passenger and luggage issues. Even then, we still arrived at Oakland early. Even when the passengers don't know how to hustle, the pilots do. And I have to give mad love to Krissy who got those damned Korean kids to stop screaming. She took charge, got them quiet and got us going.

The rental car experience was a snap since I signed up for their preferred rewards membership. I had a free upgrade coupon and a free day on a weekly rental coupon, which ordinarily I shouldn't have been able to use together, but I was able to. I was offered a Chevy Impala, which I politely declined, since I didn't feel like being one of the village people today. (One of them was a cop, right?)

I was offered a Buick LeSabre, which I accepted, since it has the XM Satellite Radio. You may recall on my last trip how utterly lonely I was without it. I got out of the Rental car lot, only to go right back in, because the Buick's Airbag light wouldn't go out, and it kept dinging at me. The exchange was rather quick and painless, and they gave me another free upgrade, to a Cadillac Deville, also with XM, and, get this, (free?) Onstar! I couldn't understand though, how this V8 vehicle, rides so smoothly, so much so, that I was doing 81 and didn't realize it! I slowed down, set the cruise control to 65 and continued on my way.

The Hotel: As I mentioned before, I decided to stay at the Summerfield Suites instead of the Marriott. For one, the suites are $60.00 cheaper than the Marriott, and I got a 1 bedroom King bed (complimentary upgrade just for asking) for $139.00 per night. It's got a sofa and easy chair, desk with free high speed internet, TV and DVD in the living room and another TV in the bedroom.

It also has a kitchen with refrigerator, dishwasher, hotplate, microwave and sink. There are utensils and pots and pans for you to use. What I think is really cool also, is that if you sign up for their rewards program, they give you these goodies, like a goody bag with fresh fruit, water and cranberry juice waiting for you when you check in. Makes the life of a road warrior worth it! These are pictures of my suite. I may go swimming tonight, if I'm not too tired. I also need to check out the gym. Full Story Here

Miles to go - California Dreaming

Literally.

Daughter and Grandmother are asleep, hopefully, in Virginia under the watchful eyes of my sister.

The bags are packed. It's 1:37. Why then can I not sleep? I am sleepy, I just can't make it to the bed.

My flight is due to depart at 9:55 and arrive some time in the early afternoon, Pacific time. This time I won't be staying at the Marriott, thank God. The food was so so, the room, ok, and the price was horrendous. I'll be staying at the Wyndham in Pleasant Hill. It's 60 dollars per night cheaper and I'll be in a suite instead of a room. I hear it's a lot better. Nicer gym. I'm looking forward to actually using the pool, since the one at the Marriott last time wasn't big enough to put a toothpick. Add to that the Internet Access is Free. So, I guess the money I save on expenses I can spend on some decent food.

I'll have to take a trip to Santa Clara, I think, to visit a company that we're considering buying some products from. That should be fun.

I'm also looking forward to hanging out with George. He gave me a fantastic tour last time. Maybe this time the weather will cooperate and I'll get to see the Golden Gate and get some better pictures. And I'll get the spelling of his wife's name, so I can stop saying "his wonderful wife."

Well, I guess I'll turn in now. The airport shuttle is coming to get me at 7:30. They are so cool, very prompt, and the drivers are nice. And since I'm flying Southwest this time round and there are no movies, I'll try to review the movies that I promised to have done for Port of Harlem Magazine, so Wayne won't kill me. it's going to be hard to do that in 600 words.. I think he said 600. Hmmm. I need to grab some food at the airport too. It's going to be a long flight without food. Full Story Here

On exes and why's

Ok, she will never know it, but my ex-wife is really pissing me off.

So we'll start with the fact that she sends my kid to me with:

• No comb, or brush to do her hair
• A pair of flip-flops, a pair of sneakers and nothing else
• Questions me about my plan to have my sister keep her while I am in Cali for the week.

I guess she forgot the divorce thing. I guess she didn't think that my kid's hair would need to be combed, or brushed, or that she would need shoes for church, oh, that's right, she could go barefoot.

I'm surprised she actually sent enough clothes for her to wear this summer. I expected to have to go shopping for things other than clothes and shoes for the new school year.

Then why would she ask me if I would consider boarding school, or catholic school, or if I would be ok with taking her? Seems she doesn't realize that if I have to drastically change my lifestyle to take care of my child, that it would not be a sacrifice at all. And oh yeah, if she chooses to turn her over to me, I hope she's ready for the loss of the tax free income she's been getting, all the fringe benefits and, paying me child support.

While I don't need it, I would pursue it, for the principle of it. For the fact that when she didn't need to, she took me to court to demand child support. It was funny how she didn't get them to take it out of my paycheck, like she wanted, and the court ordered child support was less than I was giving her. Goes to show what happens when you take advice from a chicken headed girlfriend whose baby's father isn't supporting their own child.

She'll never know I'm pissed, because I won't give her that power, but, if she knows what's good for her, she might want to stay the hell away from me.

Full Story Here

Funny thing about family

This has been quite a week. I have been in contact with more members of my family this week than I even remembered that I had.

My mother's in town, for a while, as I mentioned before, and since she's been here I have had my uncle who I haven't seen in perhaps 25 years, come to my home twice. I have had another uncle who I haven't seen in 14 years but have spoken to maybe twice in that time, call my house several times. I have gone to see my aunt in Philly and met my young cousin. And I've spent more time talking on the phone to my father in the past several weeks, than I have ever done in my life.

I guess this is the year of the family for me. I have tried to keep my family together, well, at least, my siblings on my father's side of the family. Now my mother's side is starting to reappear. The funny thing is it's starting to bring back memories, some of which I'm not sure I was ready for.

For example, my uncle, Bobby, is the splitting image of my late granddad. I stopped missing him a few years ago, and it was like whoa, there he was again. He was my greatest champion, and I was his. Then this reunion of sorts kinda reminded me of relatives that I forgot I had. Sad thing about being in America is, you can easily lose touch with those who care the most about you.

So, it's been somewhat hectic this week, and I haven't been able to slow down yet. Perhaps when I'm in Walnut Creek next week, it will all start to come together. Or maybe, this is just the beginning. Full Story Here

Open letter to DL Foster

I glanced at your blog today, and I have some questions for you. I'm not entirely sure where you're coming from, and I'd like to give you an opportunity to perhaps explain things from your point of view.

 

You see, I am God fearing. I go to church, take communion, pay taxes (which means of course, I work as well). I am a property owner, drive a car, pay insurance, shop for clothes, shoes everything else that the average person does. I am a parent of a beautiful 8 year old.

 

I don't understand what the whole idea is, taking the rights of people away, of freedom to do what they want. Many countries in the world still restrict that. I don't understand also, the hate, against a group of people because of who they are, because of things in their genetic make up that they cannot control. No, I'm not talking about African Americans, although I could very well be. I'm not talking about Jews or Palestinians, those who were subject to genocide in Darfur in the Sudan. I am talking about people who are foolish enough (and I really don't believe they are foolish) to choose to admit to themselves and the world that they are one of God's children, and that they are gay.

 

Are they supposed to slink in shame and wither and die in the darkness, perhaps? For, that being the case, we could readily expect the same from those of the ethnicities that I mentioned above. Including us, Americans of African descent. I am unconvinced that as humans we are so loathing or self-loathing, determined to disobey the will of God, that we would choose to be gay. I don't think anyone chose to be straight, so why would people choose to be gay? Knowing the discriminatory practices, the bashing, disapproval by family and community, why would anyone be so self-loathing as to choose such a life for themselves?

 

I don't understand the emphasis and the drive that so many churches, black churches included, place on the destruction of those who are gay in the society. It befuddles me that it was only a short time ago that black churches were being torched because, of all things, people didn't want African Americans to worship, well they didn't want us to do anything at all, except be our maids, whores, drivers and other blue collar jobs, and if we aspired for better, or whistled at a white woman we could or would be killed.

 

As an American, born elsewhere, but one who loves this country as my home, I am concerned about this deep sense of divisiveness in our country. I would like to know, what have gay people done to the religious that have them so much in ire? What could they possibly have done to warrant this eradication from the face of the earth?

 

I hope that I have not come across as confrontational, or attacking in any way, because I would certainly like to entertain some discourse on the matter. It is of grave concern to me, as I don't want to have to explain to my child (although I will probably have to), what bigotry and homophobia is. So, when you have the time, could you let me know what your beef is?

 

Richard A. Scott

http://tragicdeepthoughts.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Full Story Here

Auction Funk: Flimsy Old Newspaper Fetches $1200

Auction Funk Full Story Here

Miles to go before I sleep

I am so tired. I have been running around going to this place and that trying to wrap things up before I head to the Bay area again on Sunday.

The latest headlines:

• I took my daughter to the beauty shop to get her hair washed and hot combed. They musta seen me coming. Those heifers will not get 65 dollars out of me again. I don't care if my kid's hair is long, that's unconscionable.
• D and I had a major falling out, and it's going to take a lot to forgive. The callous disregard for my feelings didn't help. Showing you're sorry is not the same as saying I'm sorry. Some people need to join the human race.
• After 14 years, my mother is back in my life. Up close. I moved out at age 22 and I left Jamaica the same year. While we maintained contact by phone, I don't write letters, which is a fine art apparently still practiced in Jamaica. So now, she's here, living with me. I don't know for how long. I have to learn a lot of patience. More patience than having a child, because, well, this is completely new to her. My father, now a figure in my life, is going to help. My sister is hosting her for the week while I'm in Walnut Creek, and her brothers will be rallying around her. I will get through this, but I am tired and a little stressed.
• I have a cold. It's kicking my butt. That's what happens when I get majorly stressed. My immune system gets hammered. So I started taking vitamins again. I need to sleep, or sleep better than I have been.
• I need to call George back. We've been playing phone tag. I'm not in a hurry to call him because he will get out of me the sources of my stress.. and that may cause problems in and of itself, if he decides to act.

I'm going to bed now. I have a short day tomorrow and a lot to get done before I go.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening - Robert Frost.

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it's queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there's some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Full Story Here

Riverside Church Conference: Some Black Preachers embrace gay congregation

From the Associated Press:

You may recall on July 26 I reported that a group of ministers and black gay folk were getting together to talk about the increase in homophobia and violence against gays.

I came across this article today From David Caruso, which highlights the discussions from the conference.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The words that the Rev. James A. Forbes chose to share with the roomful of black gay and lesbian faithful might have come straight from the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. Forbes reminded his listeners that discrimination has no place in this world and urged them to lay down the notion put forward by some black ministers that they are less favored by God.

"Your job is to get up every day and be grateful to God for your DNA," Forbes said. "It took an artist divine to make this design!"

Forbes, senior minister at the Riverside Church, was among several religious leaders and politicians who attended a revival meeting Sunday aimed at countering what organizers said was a surge in anti-gay rhetoric coming from pulpits in conservative parishes.

The program for the event bore the pictures of 10 black men and women who were murdered, or severely injured, in recent years in attacks believed to have been motivated by their sexual orientation.

Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields likened the treatment of homosexuals today to the discrimination she faced growing up black in the old South, and Arun Gandhi, a grandson of Mohandas Gandhi, drew parallels to the repression once experienced by nonwhite citizens in South Africa.

Religious conservatives have chafed at similar comparisons between the gay rights movement, and civil rights struggles of the past.

The issue has been an especially sensitive one in some predominantly black congregations, where pastors have maintained that homosexuality is a sin or a social disorder that should not be compared with race or ethnicity.

Last winter, hundreds of black clergy attended summits aimed at opposing gay marriage held in cities across the country. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s youngest daughter even led a march through Atlanta to advocate a ban on gay marriage.

Speaking at the Riverside Church, the Rev. Cari Jackson of the Center of Spiritual Light said some conservative black clergy had, perhaps unintentionally, incited hate against lesbians and gays by repeatedly condemning them as sinners.

"Like our slave ancestors," Jackson said, "we are being spiritually, psychologically and physically abused." Full Story Here

From my friend Barry: Red White & Blue: London Pride

Red White & Blue
London Pride

You come to place your bags of hate
On bus and train, you made us late
Yet we'll be back again tomorrow
We'll carry on despite our sorrow

Your bags of hate caused some to die
Yet we stride out strong with heads held high
You'll never win, we will not bow.
You can't defeat us, you don't know how.

This London which we love with pride
Is a town where scum like you can't hide
Don't worry we will hunt you down.
Then Lock you up in name of the Crown.

We're London and we're many races,
Just look you'll see our stoic faces.
We all condemn your heinous act
You will not win and that's a fact.

We'll mourn our dead and shed a tear,
But we will not bow to acts of fear.
You're out there somewhere all alone,
There's nowhere now you can call home.

Olympics ours, we've won the race.
Your timing then, a real disgrace.
Our strength you'll find remains unbowed.
We're London and we're very proud.

SEND THIS TO EVEYONE YOU KNOW SO THE WORLD AND THOSE EVIL RETARDS SEE WE WILL NOT BOW TO THEIR SICK BELIEFS. NO TRUE GOD, WHATEVER RELIGION, WOULD CONDONE THE KILLING OF OTHERS. Full Story Here

Where in the world is Tom Sater?

It seems one of my favorite weather people is gone. And if anyone knows where, they're not talking.

Tom Sater, formerly of WTTG Fox 5 DC is no longer with the station. Gary Mcgrady has been doing weather there for the past several weeks. DCRTV.com is reporting that the anchor posted an ad for a new morning weather person on 7/24. Sater's bio has been pulled from the station's website as well.

Now as to the rumours that he and Holly Morris split up, well, I can't confirm or deny that either. I don't remember if the fact that Sater was her husband was listed in her bio, but it isn't now. Full Story Here

In the Life

You may already be aware of this, but before there was Here! TV and Logo, there was In the Life, an hour long documentary/news magazine for people living the life. And it airs on PBS. (Check your local listings for show dates and times). I set my DVR to record it but I am several months behind on viewings. I'll have to fix that. At any rate the August edition is coming up soon. You can go here to see the promo for next month's show, as well as to put in your zip code to get show times.

Full Story Here

Federal Judge says Patriot Act too vague

From the Associated Press:
A federal judge has ruled that some provisions of the Patriot Act dealing with foreign terrorist organizations remain too vague to be understood by a person of average intelligence and are therefore unconstitutional.

US District Judge Audrey Collins found that Congress failed to remedy all the problems she defined in a 2004 ruling that struck down key provisions of the law. Her decision was handed down Thursday and released Friday.
"Even as amended, the statute fails to identify the prohibited conduct in a manner that persons of ordinary intelligence can reasonably understand," the ruling said.

Collins issued an injunction against enforcement of the sections she found vague but specified that her ruling applies only to the named plaintiffs and does not constitute a nationwide injunction.

"I'm pleased that the court has recognized that people have a right to support lawful, nonviolent activities of groups the secretary of state has put on a blacklist," said David Cole, a Georgetown University law professor who argued the case on behalf of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
The center had sought to clear the way for US groups and individuals to assist political organizations in Turkey and Sri Lanka.

The case centered on two groups, the Liberation Tigers, which seeks a separate homeland for the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, and Partiya Karkeran Kurdistan, a political organization representing the interests of the Kurds in Turkey.

Both groups have been designated by the US as foreign terrorist organizations. However, the plaintiffs argued that there was a desperately increased need for aid following the tsunami disaster that devastated Sri Lanka last December.

Permissible aid
Without a clear definition of what aid is permissible, they said that those who provide assistance could be subject to 15-year prison terms.
The judge's ruling addressed the prohibition on providing material support or resources, including "training," "expert advice or assistance," "personnel" and "service" to designated foreign terrorist organizations.

The judge upheld the government position on a challenge to the ban on providing "personnel" to the named groups but found the other terms too vague.

She enjoined the government from enforcing those provisions as they apply to the groups named in the lawsuit. Full Story Here