Henry, Oh my God, Billy said he wants to be a politician!

One of a Mother's worst fears, he could have sold drugs or stolen cars, but a politician, what will we tell everyone.

"I think he gets that from your side of the family Helen, not mine."

"No Henry, remember that great uncle of yours, he was a horse thief and a cheat and he gambled and cheated on his wife, that is where this all comes from, all those traits and now a politician, I can't face my friends anymore. Oh why couldn't he have been a pimp like your uncle Louis?"

FDR was the first President that I remember, I didn't know he was a politician, just the President, I didn't know what a politician was, anyway. I suppose I didn't really get interested in politics, oh, many years ago, when I started doing printing for them, and then they got my advice on the graphics involved, then some correcting, and then some writing. I have done work for both parties, so I got involved with the "game" and not a particular team.

There used to be some basics, family picture, community involvement and depending on the office certain other elements were required, basically, all positives for the candidate. Look what it has degenerated to now, all negative about the opponent, little to no positives.

I used to hold office holders in high esteem .... that is ..... until ... I learned of their real agenda. A free ride. I no longer have any respect for anyone entering in to politics. Once then enter that "door" .... they can never return. They are dependent on the world to take care of them. Carefully chosen words mean something, but in general, words are "filler" .... just political rhetoric, I say the most, the loudest and I win elections. Plus, I learn how to play the game. A politician knows which side of the bread the butter is on, he plays the game, and that is what it is. A game well played will take you to unknown heights.

There have been a few instances in my life, where I knew someone, had respect for them .... and then, they entered the political ring. I lost much, if not all, of that respect. It is akin to entering a "life of crime." In a number of cases, that is exactly what happened.

I knew some guys at The Citadel, Army Brats, Dad was an officer, they lived on bases, all over the world, they knew nothing but the military way. By the time they got to college they were almost robots, order takers, no initiative on their own. Politicians fall in to the category. Nice image, very vocal, fancy words, but nothing but hot air.

In my soon to be 82 years, I have lost, all, much, some, .... respect for Politicians, Evangelists and Coaches. In some way, their careers are involved with money .... no loyalty, no morals, no .... many other words which don't come to mind, but lacking, in all of them, integrity .... "Please don't use that word around me, it makes me uneasy, OK?"

Billy is on a road to ..... ??????

New York Magazine: Chelsea Clinton Leaving Her Unbelievably Cushy Fake Job at NBC

Kicking off the annual Labor Day Friday News Dump, Chelsea Clinton has announced, via People, that she will no longer pretend to be a reporter. The once (and future?) First Daughter has been a “special correspondent” for NBC News since 2011, when she was dubbed, following her debut, “one of the most boring people of her era.” For the occasional feel-good segment or interview with the CGI Geico gecko, Clinton earned a reported annual salary of $600,000, or approximately $26,724 for every minute she was on-air.

She switched to a month-by-month contract earlier this year, allegedly because of her pregnancy and her mother's impending run for president, not because she was being paid an insane amount of money to do almost nothing.

But she just doesn't have time to occasionally appear on TV for a few minutes anymore and is departing, amicably we're sure, “to continue focusing on my work at the Clinton Foundation and as Marc and I look forward to welcoming our first child,” Clinton told People.

“Chelsea's storytelling inspired people across the country and showcased the real power we have as individuals to make a difference in our communities,” said NBC News senior vice president Alex Wallace. “While she will be missed, we look forward to working with her in the future.”

A search for her recent work turns up “Oscar-Winning Actor Jeff Bridges Fights to End Childhood Hunger” and “Homework Diner Serves Up Education With a Side of Food” (a follow-up to the same story from last year), along with “Chelsea Clinton Pregnant: ‘Marc and I Are Very Excited,” “Chelsea Clinton: I’m Very Excited About First Child,” and “‘So Thrilled’: Chelsea Clinton Announces Pregnancy.”

The 30's

The THIRTIES .... what a great time that was. I was too young to really appreciate it, too young to have anything to compare it to, but what I do remember of it, was great.

We had trolleys that ran on tracks, we had some home deliveries in a horse drawn wagon, milk by Bordens and bread by Whites. I remember the iceman in the Summer, when he turned his back or was making a delivery, we stole chips of ice, heavenly, cold, stolen, ice. And when he returned he would take out that ice pick he had in a leather holder attached to his belt, and chips us off some, and give it to us. It was not as good as the stolen ice.

We listened to the radio, a big Philco. I always sat it awe of it, imagining what the "voices" looked like and where the voices were coming from. We used our imagination, what a great thing that was, vivid pictures in the mind. We got a lot of news, shopping sales, sports, comics and local information, from the newspaper. It was a Sunday morning institution. Dad got the front page, brother Bud got the sports, I got the comics, Mom got it all when she cleaned up. I don't remember her reading the paper. She was a Mom, she took care of the house, cooked, cleaned, I don't think the news was important to her.

In the Fall, we had Halloween and Thanksgiving. In the Winter, Christmas, which was in our house,  about a week. Trimmed the tree on Mom's birthday, the 18th, church, a few families we visited, the BIG morning of opening the presents. We did have a play at school, with the Wisemen, the Baby, Mary and Joseph, the Star, Santa. A candy cane was a nice gift. I got my Blue Lionel train one year, late 30's, lights in the cars,a crossing guard that came out of his shack, waved a lantern, logs that rolled on to a flatcar, awesome.

We can never go back, but what a great time it was.

SMI - 8/30/14

The other day, a Facebook friend, made a comment about reading the news, and how if affected her. I had an epiphany this morning. As a child, I didn't watch, or listen to the news, and it had no effect of me, adverse or otherwise. Who decided we needed to know what all was happening in the world? Yesterday I did a post on the 3 million Syrians roaming around, homeless, I commented about it to a number of people .... the riots in Missouri ... and this effects me, how?

Our country is a great example. It is going to pots, we know it, are helpless to do anything about it ...."Oh, you can vote them out" is BS .... there is nothing I can do, just good political rhetoric, supposed to make me feel good that I can change it all. Who started news, and better yet, why. 

Ogee, the caveman, worried about food, how to feed his family, perhaps shelter, he occasionally heard drums, coming from Hango, but they were just sounds. It was probably just Rango who had too much of that fermented grape juice they found. 

I really am no different than Ogee. One good example of wasted time, we occasionally sit and watch TV, a show of "What is happening in Columbus, Ohio." We haven't been to Columbus in a long time, and the only time we have gone there in the last twenty years was to go to their hospital. WHY do we sit and watch something like that .... ?

Things, I don't care how insignificant or monumental, are going to happen whether I, We, know about them or not. Earthquakes, like the one in California, saw photos of the devastation, had in the back of my mind, the earth, coming apart, and all of us flying out into space. Did I really need to know about the earthquakes.

The shootings, all of them, do I really need to know each little detail of what happened? We used to sit around the old Philco radio, and listen to Peter Grant from WLW in Cincinnati. 99.9 percent of the news I have nothing to do with. Much like the weather ... some stations now have four or five "Weathermen" to keep us updated on bad weather. When bad weather hits, the TV is the first thing to go out. I can wee it is important to farmers and some others, but little I can do .... maybe take an umbrella.

So, if you get upset by news, like I do, do like you did when you were a kid, don't listen or now don't watch it, little to nothing you can do about it anyway. My life is too short to worry about three million Syrians roaming around in the desert .... 

"Oh, hey, all you guys over there, yeah, all three millions of you, come on over to my place here in Newark, Ohio, I'll feed and take care of you. Wait till next week though, OK, I get my SS check then."

Why do we have news, because it NOW is a gigantic industry, thousands, maybe a million people are involved with getting you up to date news, most of which, does not concern you in any way and there is absolutely NOTHING you can do about. Be Informed. Why?

I am sorry, but, we are so spoiled ...........

Again, I am in awe of being an American living in this country. We are so spoiled. I did a blog earlier on the millions walking and living in tents in Syria. The Ebola problem, terrorists, turmoil in the world.

And then, my wife was doing a "demo" at our local Krogers, and I walked in to the back of the store to get her cart. Product everywhere, floor to ceiling, potato chips, chips of all sorts, food, food, food, soda of all sorts, stacks of wine and beer, food of all descriptions, stacked everywhere. And, we are one little store in Newark, Ohio. Well, it is a big store, but the amount of food coming in the back and going out the front is staggering. We are so spoiled.

Friday, the start of a holiday weekend, SS checks coming in, I guess time for the welfare checks, and the big l    o     n     g     weekend, Labor Day already. A comment ... fireman do a great job, but WHY, on a busy Friday, before a long weekend, do they feel they have to BLOCK traffic, collecting money in a boot. I am always way to furious to consider even giving them a dime. I don't even know if they do the Telethon thing anymore.

I just wish those three millions homeless, wondering Syrians could take a trip through Krogers. I've commented before, years ago an exchange student was coming to this country from South American somewhere. I picked her up and was to take her to the family that she would be staying with. She saw a McDonalds. She was 15 or 16 or so, had never had a Big Mac, had heard of them, never had one. I was awestruck, took her in, ordered, and told everyone that she had never had a Big Mac. I was much more awed by it than they were.

Can you imagine, taking a lady, from Syria, who had just walked fifty miles or so, leaving her country behind, walked in the hot desert son with her four children, little to no food, little to no future .... walking in to all of the abundance and variety of foods. Give me one good BIG lottery hit and I will assure you, some from somewhere will experience that.

I wonder what would happen if all of the money spent this weekend on the "holiday" all the trips, boat trips, airlines, were somehow funneled in to helping ... if everyone who was planning a cruise, would help feed a family, with all that money, somewhere ... all the donors would have is memories ..... think what that hungry family would experience. Memories are great, food is greater, to a hungry person. Your memories die with you, a legacy of "giving" is never forgotten.

It ain't just us, I guess .......

Britain on red alert: Terror threat level raised to ‘severe’

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times - Friday, August 29, 2014

British Prime Minister David Cameron raised Friday the nation’s terrorism threat level to “severe,” saying bluntly that “poisonous” Islamic extremism is causing widespread problems that are spreading from the Middle East to other parts of the world.

“We have to confront it from home and abroad,” he said Friday during a press conference, calling for more intelligence, smart military airstrikes and a slew of other “building blocks” that will require “perseverance” to succeed.

“I believe we will be fighting for years, and perhaps decades,” Mr. Cameron said, adding that the U.K. has already taken many actions, such as “legislating so that we can prosecute people on all aspects of terrorism.”

Mr. Cameron estimated about 500 people have traveled to the Middle East for terrorism training and to join the Islamic State.

Human skull donated to Goodwill store in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Police are scratching their heads trying to work out who donated a human skull to a thrift store in Austin, Texas.

Homicide Detective Derek Israel said Wednesday that foul play is not suspected and that he just wants to know how the adult skull came to be left at the Goodwill store.

Goodwill store staff discovered the skull while sifting through donations on July 16. A spokeswoman says it could have been gifted up to a week prior to its discovery.

No other details about it have been released.

This is at least the fourth skull to be donated to the international nonprofit this summer. Three were donated in July to a Goodwill store in Bellevue, Washington.

Sen. Rob Portman Exploring Run for Presidency

Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman is exploring a presidential run, two reports said Thursday.

The Columbus Dispatch said the freshman lawmaker is being urged to form a presidential exploratory committee so he can raise money to pay for travel and expenses, including to early presidential contest states like New Hampshire and Iowa. 

Portman campaigned Tuesday in New Hampshire, although it was on behalf of Republican Scott Brown in his challenge of incumbent Democratic Sen. Jean Shaheen.

But a separate appearance in Manchester set off a wave of speculation about his presidential aspirations, the Dispatch reported.

Cincinnati.com reported that Portman hasn't made any final decision, but that his political confidantes have talked about what steps he'd need to take if he does go all-in for a presidential run. 

Portman has raised $5 million for his Senate re-election in 2016, the news site reported – money that could shift to an exploratory presidential committee.

"I’m not particularly eager to do it myself, and having been involved in six presidential campaigns, I know what it’s like," Portman said last month. 

"But if nobody running is able to win and willing to address these issues, then I might have a change of heart."

Portman is the chief fundraiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and if the GOP takes control of the Senate in November, he'll get some credit for the millions raised for GOP candidates, the Dispatch notes.

He's also got Mitt Romney in his corner.

The Great Pretender

Little did the Platters know in 1955

that this song would be so popular and appropriate

in 2014

59 years later.

WATCH HERE

Ex-Nevada lawmaker pleads guilty in 2 Vegas cases

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A former Nevada state lawmaker could be freed from jail in Las Vegas after pleading guilty to felony charges in separate criminal cases dating to the days before his expulsion from the Legislature last year.

Defense attorney Adam Gill said Thursday that former Democratic Assemblyman Steven Brooks' family planned to post $10,000 bail to free him to await evaluation for a mental health court program.

Brooks pleaded guilty in separate cases to firearm and resisting a public officer charges, in a plea deal that avoided trial and made him eligible for freedom after 17 months in California and Nevada jails.

Brooks last month pleaded no contest to felony evading a peace officer and resisting arrest in California stemming from his March 2013 arrest after an Interstate 15 freeway chase.

Nevada gaming win rises in July

CARSON CITY, Nev. - Nevada casinos won more than $931 million from gamblers in July, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The July numbers represent a 0.65 percent increase from July 2013.

Clark County casinos fared better. Clark County casinos won more than $800 million in July - an increase of 2.2 percent from last year. Casinos along the Las Vegas Strip and in Mesquite posted the best results.

Despite the positive numbers, the state collected less money in fees as a result of the July gaming win. Nevada collected more than 52 million in taxable revenue - a decline of 14.7 percent from 2013.

Yes, we are a great nation .....under .... A Golf Umbrella

Ironic.

Ebola article, about all those with the disease, prior to that, people forced out of their country, thousands of them, living in tents, and on the local news here in the USA, talk of the US Open, tennis, football games last night, more BIG GAMES tomorrow, the PRO season starting soon, California passes 'yes-means-yes' campus sexual assault bill, Missouri police sued for $40 million over actions in Ferguson protests, and, last, but not least, Arizona mom who left children in hot car regains custody, and most of all, the new playoff system in college football.

We are concerned about football while the world falls apart around us. We also have major problems, we just don't talk about them that often. There is TENSION in this country, political, racial, domestic. We may have the biggest problem in the world, a leader with no ability to lead, certainly no training or experience, our leader has ............ charisma. Oh. And, at our expense, he has become a pretty fair golfer.

"Ah, Mister president, what do you look upon as being your greatest accomplishment while in office, as the president of the United States?"

"I took twelve strokes off of my golf game. Gotta run, tee time in an hour."

"But, what about the Syrian problem?"

"I watched him the other day, he doesn't keep his head down."

"Oh?"

UN: Ebola disease caseload could reach 20,000

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is accelerating and could grow six times larger to infect as many as 20,000 people, the World Health Organization said Thursday. The U.N. health agency unveiled a new road map for containing the virus, and scientists are fast-tracking efforts to find a treatment or vaccine.

Ebola has menaced Africa for 40 years, but previously struck in remote villages and was contained fairly quickly. This time, it has spread to major cities in four countries, provoking unrest as whole neighborhoods and towns have been sealed to the outside.

An experimental vaccine developed by the U.S. government and GlaxoSmithKline will be tested on humans starting next week, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced Thursday. The NIH trial will use healthy adult volunteers in Maryland, and British experts will simultaneously test the same vaccine in healthy people in the U.K., Gambia and Mali.

Preliminary results on the vaccine's safety — not its effectiveness — could be available in months.

Scientists also announced that they have mapped the genetic code of this strain of Ebola to better understand how it kills. In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, researchers traced an explosion of cases in this outbreak to a single funeral in Guinea in May.

They hope to use DNA mapping to track mutations that could become more worrisome the longer the outbreak lasts, and make a difference in the how doctors spot and fight the disease as vaccines are developed.

The outbreak has now killed at least 1,552 people among 3,069 reported cases in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, and the real caseload in urban areas could be two to four times higher. Meanwhile, an entirely separate Ebola outbreak has killed 13 of 42 people sickened in a remote area of Congo, in Central Africa, the agency said.

With about a 50 percent mortality rate among those known to be infected, the overall death toll could reach 10,000 in the worst-case scenario

Three million people forced out of Syria

The tragic milestone means that about one of every eight Syrians has fled across the border, and 6.5 million others have been displaced within Syria since the conflict began in March 2011, the Geneva-based agency said. 

More than half of all those uprooted are children, it said. 

Brewer Releases 99-Pack of Beer

We all know the saying "Everything is BIG in Texas." But for beer lovers everywhere, this is even cooler than big hats, belt buckles, and barbecue. Actually, this would be ideal with a lot of freshly charred barbecue.

Austin Beerworks has just unveiled a new over-the-top way to get its beer into your gut with a limited-edition 99-pack of brewski. The big box of brew will set you back $99 (or a buck a can), which is pretty good for a can of this Texas good stuff. But don't expect it to fit in your compact car with ease. The packaging is insanely exaggerated at seven feet long. The brewery released the gigantic box as part of a social media campaign for its Peacemaker Anytime Ale.

The 99-pack is only available in Austin, and only for a limited time and in limited quantities. By state law, the brewery is not allowed to ship out of state, so you might have to make the drive. Just drink responsibly, and it will probably last for a while. Maybe this will inspire people to have house parties called "99-ers."

Strong demand for the seven-foot uber-pack in the wake of the wild campaign has inspired the brewery to roll out more 99-packs sooner rather than later. And now you can have 99 cans of beer on a wall.

The BIG Kickoff Game ......

I hope this isn't a precursor to the rest of the season. They advertised a football game, the Chick-fil-a Kickoff Game, or some such thing .... I endured thirty minutes of "pre-game" ..... gonna be nice and just say comments. Then, in a sparsely filled stadium, Boise State and Old Miss started playing ...... football. It was pathetic, fights, penalties, sloppy play, the ref's whistles were the only noise in the stadium .... but, commercials, plenty of commercials and then, in between the commercials, a very sloppily planed football game. I am thankful that they are televising a lot of high school games, and I am already SICK of hearing about the NEW PLAYOFF SYSTEM .... The First Year of the NEW Playoff System .... and then, they try to explain how it is going to work. It is so great that only God could have come up with such an idea.

I am also in an unenviable position back in the back with my little TV. My wife is watching a movie on her set, When she does that I can only watch the channel I had on when she started her movie ... so I am stuck with the Chickfila thing until her movie is over.

So, here I am, on the laptop. After this, I will do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. I would bake a cake, but, I would eat most of it and I am trying to cut down on such things.

At least, I have lived to see another football season ... at this age, one always wonders .... will I .... in this case I did .... the game tonight, at least it was not on BLUE carpet ............

I see they have another similar game coming up on the 30th .... how many Kickoffs can we have?

Jonathan Waters still vying to get his Ohio State job back

I wish he would give up, tired of hearing his whining. If you get fired, why would you even want to work for the same employer that fired you. Kinda like getting a "Dishonorable Discharge" from the Army and they wanting to re-enlist. "Your "ship" has sailed Waters, look for another one." Furthermore, if I was OSU, I certainly would not want such a "whiney" guy leading my band. Same thing we may run in to when obama's term is up .... he won't leave ... "I like it here, I don't wanna go, I like my airplane, my vacations ..... I don't wanna go!"

Former Ohio State Marching Band director Jonathan Waters said he still hasn’t decided whether he’ll sue OSU during a Tuesday interview with The Lantern.

He was fired July 24 after a two-month investigation into the band found a culture conducive to sexual harassment. It was determined Waters was aware or reasonably should have been aware of that culture and did not do enough to change it.

His attorney David Axelrod said Waters has acknowledged that he needs to start looking for a new job, but said he hasn’t started yet because he wants his position at OSU back.

Since his termination, many OSU Marching Band members, alumni and others have showed support for the ousted director with numerous letters to the editor, letters to university administration and rallies, among other things. Most call for Waters’ reinstatement.

The student squad leadership of the band from 2012 and 2013 released a statement Tuesday through Axelrod’s office that called the report’s findings “false and misleading” and said the investigation was “severely flawed.”

Another display of support for Waters surfaced Tuesday when a 10-page document of Waters’ attempts to change the band culture was found on the marching band alumni club website. One instance in the report describes how Waters looked down upon mistreatment of new band members.

“We could not publicly (or in front of Jon Waters or any staff) refer to first-year band members as ‘rookies.’ We were required to refer to them as first-years in order to reinforce equality among ranks. Jon stressed that even a reference such as first-years was a form of hazing, and not something that was supported by the OSUMB,” it reads.

Waters said Tuesday afternoon he hadn’t read that report and couldn’t provide direct comment on it. “Without reading it, I’m sure I stand by what they’re saying,” Waters said.

Andre Rieu

I am an Andre Rieu fan, big time. His show is on my "Bucket List" but I doubt that will ever come true, unless I hit the lottery. He and his musician thoroughly enjoy what they are doing. They don't quietly walk in and take their seats, they march and dance in, instant love. His venues are enormous and he plays all over the world.

I must admit, I do not want to see his show here in the USA. I have watched many of his tapes, often. He, the band, his singers, the musicians the audience, ALL have much more fun and enjoyment, abroad. The Brazil audience was spectacular. I think, as an American, we think WE are the only country. It is difficult for us to imagine any other country being ... normal .... they are all primitive and backward. The American audience basically sat on their hands, some showed some emotion. In Brazil, they ALL had fun, sang, danced, cried, applauded.

His show brings out every emotion known to man. His website alone is in six languages. He is going to be in Brazil in October, would love to see his show, just gotta hit the lottery.

I don't know how you would categorize his show, other than pure, unadulterated entertainment. I cannot imagine the logistics involved in moving his shows around the world.  When you check out his website, listen to some of his music, you too, will become a fan.

I am shooting for this show:
André Rieu - Ginásio do Ibirapuera, São Paulo
OCTOBER 12 2014 - 07:00 PM
São Paulo, Brasil
R. Manoel da Nóbrega, 1361, Ibirapuera - São Paulo, 04001-084, Brasil

André Rieu is back in Brasil with a brand new show! Together with his 60-piece Johann Strauss Orchestra and many soloist André Rieu will give you what you’ve come to expect from his performances: the maestro conducting his 60-piece Johann Strauss Orchestra and playing his world-famous Stradivarius violin to create a colourful concert full of surprises. The repertoire ranges from romantic, emotional ballads to the most gorgeous and celebrated waltzes.

Experience the magic of André Rieu at a festive and memorable evening and come see why André Rieu is one of the most popular live acts in the world!

Come on LOTTERY ...... be nice for me ..............

My Morning Coffee spot ...

When the weather is nice, and this morning, beautiful, a little warm, but a nice breeze winding its way around me.

Where do "breezes" come from? Are they just the tail end of something else, something has to propel them, or make them move, somehow, yet, there they are, a magically pleasing breeze, from out of nowhere.Heavenly

Pensive mood this morning, no creative thoughts, primarily reflections of past days. One of those "stare" moods, just sit quietly and stare at nothing. Roger Williams is playing "Misty" on our music spewing TV. Now that takes me back to Johnny Mathis, Lake Tahoe, The Nevada Lodge, The Crystal Bay Club and the Cal Neva, and one of the great times in my live, Tahoe, casinos, parties, total carefree lifestyle for a number of months. Occasional trips "off the mountain" to head to Reno .... many, "Oh, you work up at Tahoe?" .... not many did in those days, the first Winter the North side was open, getting ready for the Olympics. Doc Ledford, Old Burt, Jack the Bartender, Bettye Johnson, many forgotten names, but some great memories.

I was talking with a guy at Walmart yesterday, well, actually a few guys. Had not seen Tony Adams in a number of years, ran for County Commissioner on one occasions, now has a State Farm Agency here in town. If he had stayed in politics, he could have ended up Governor or the State, or more. My advice to him once when he was running for County Commissioner, "Drive your BMW, but wear bib overalls." Diverse strata of voters in the county, you had to appeal to both.

I was talking with another guy, he was in his 60's, wondered about getting older. I told him one main thing about getting older, you lose everyone, you get to a "Oh, did he die" mentality. My wife's Grandmother lived to a 100, she "buried" almost all of her family, had one son left. You almost get to a point where you are standing alone, and I think you have to build an immunity to that. One example, I finally bought a new pair of tennis shoes, cheap ones from Walmart. I almost hate to buy anything new, probably won't get much use out of it ..... "Here, buy this, it has a lifetime guarantee" ... means nothing. I can understand why we read about people who die as  paupers, yet they had money and many material things, but old furniture, and old house, old car, that's why. Short future, in comparison.

Just our way of showing we REALLY CARE!!!!!!!

China responds to threat ...

This conversation was translated from Chinese to English by Wo JO Chan.

"Good morning Honorable Secretary of Defense, we are honored to have you at the Ministers Meeting this morning. We want to report to you that the United States is sending a, what they call a, strike group ... please no laughing, they are retaliating for the pilot who played with their spy plane the other day. Actually, Squadron Commander Aki Manamoto was returning from a meeting in Yokohama, apparently had one or so, well, too much Saki, and did a few loops around the plane .... please no laughing. Their obamason, put in a call from his golf cart to their pentagon and made that decision. Originally they were sending four strike groups, but obamason corrected the error, as he had an errant drive on 14, and yelled four while giving the order. Our President Xi Jinping issued an order this morning that once the strike group arrives we will extend no credit to them to purchase fuel for their return trip. He also indicated that if they are unable to return to their home base that we would make them a fair offer on the ships in their "Strike Group."

U.S. sends second carrier to Asia amid tensions with China

By Bill Gertz — The Washington Free Beacon - - Saturday, August 23, 2014

The Navy is sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Asia Pacific region amid new tensions with China over a dangerous aerial encounter between a Chinese interceptor and Navy P-8 surveillance craft.

The strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson departed San Diego for the Pacific on Friday, the Navy said in an announcement of what it terms a “planned” deployment.

China’s military on Saturday, meanwhile, demanded an end to all U.S. monitoring flights and called U.S. criticism of dangerous Chinese jet maneuvers false.

I do not know all the facts, figures, and all that is involved, but anymore, I have the feeling that we are sending a little Chihuahua to frighten a Great Dane. WWII is over, things have changed, are we the "power" we once were, or just arrogant

Ripley ... 8/26

Bear heads stolen from remote Maine cabin

FARMINGTON, Maine (AP) — The person who broke into an off-the-grid cabin in remote western Maine didn't get away with money, jewelry or other valuables. Police say the thief took a pair of bear heads.

Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols says a Waterboro family reported last week that someone had broken into their cabin in secluded Alder Stream Township sometime over the summer.

Nichols tells the Morning Sentinel the family hadn't been to the cabin since April, so the exact time of the break-in is not known.

In addition to the stuffed bear heads, the thief also made off with two lawn chairs and three flashlights. The sheriff says the cabin's futons appear to have been slept in.

The owner said the bear heads had been in the family for 40 years.

California wine country quake losses seen in the billions

NAPA Calif. (Reuters) - The strong earthquake that jolted residents of California's historic Napa Valley wine country out of their beds in the wee hours on Sunday caused insured property losses likely to run in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but the region's economic losses will be several times that amount, experts said on Monday.

The magnitude 6.0 quake, the biggest to hit California's Bay Area in 25 years, struck before dawn on Sunday near Napa, injuring more than 200 people and damaging dozens of buildings in the picturesque community northeast of San Francisco.

At least 49 buildings in Napa, a town of 77,000 residents, were "red-tagged" as unsafe to enter, including the Napa Senior Center and the local courthouse, and that figure was expected to rise as additional structures were inspected, officials said.

The quake struck just as the grape-harvesting season is getting under way in Napa County, a significant wine-producing area that generates thousands of jobs in the region.

Wineries closest to Napa reported the most serious losses, but the full extent of damage had yet to be assessed, said Nancy Underwood of the Napa Valley Vintners Association.

In the town of Napa, a number of building facades crumbled in the historic district, and the numerous wine shops were strewn with broken bottles. Most of the buildings red-tagged were damaged despite having been retrofitted to better withstand quakes, officials told a news conference.

Disaster modeling firm CoreLogic estimated that total insured economic losses could range from $500 million to $1 billion, though the company acknowledged "a fair amount of uncertainty" around those numbers.

Roughly a quarter to a half of that projection could come from residential losses, CoreLogic said, noting that $1.8 billion in insured claims were paid to policyholders after the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake that struck San Francisco in 1989.

Richard Attenborough Dies At 90, Actor-Director Well Known For 'Jurassic Park' And 'Gandhi'

LONDON (AP) — Acclaimed actor and Oscar-winning director Richard Attenborough, whose film career on both sides of the camera spanned 60 years, has died. He was 90.

The actor's son, Michael Attenborough told the BBC that his father died Sunday. He had been in poor health for some time.

Prime Minister David Cameron issued a statement calling Attenborough "one of the greats of cinema."

"His acting in 'Brighton Rock' was brilliant, his directing of 'Gandhi' was stunning," Cameron said.

Attenborough won an Academy Award for best director with "Gandhi" in 1982, only one of many highlights of a distinguished career as actor and director.

With his abundant snow-white hair and beard, Attenborough was one of the most familiar faces on the British arts scene — universally known as "Dickie."

He appeared in a many major Hollywood films, directed a series of movies and was known for his extensive work as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and other humanitarian causes.

As a director, Attenborough made several successful movies, from "Oh What a Lovely War" in 1969 to "Chaplin" and "Shadowlands" in the 1990s. But his greatest success was "Gandhi," a film that was 20 years in the planning and won eight Oscars, including best picture.

The generation that was introduced to Attenborough as an avuncular veteran actor in the 1990s — when he played the failed theme park developer in "Jurassic Park" and Kriss Kringle in a remake of "Miracle on 34th Street" — may not have appreciated his dramatic range.

A small, energetic man with a round face that remained boyish even in old age, he was perfectly cast at the start of his career as the young sailor or airman of British movies during and after World War II.

In his 1942 film debut as a terrified warship's crewman in "In Which We Serve," a 19-year-old Attenborough made a small part into one of the most memorable roles in the movie, which won the Best Picture Oscar.

In 1947, Attenborough gave one of the best performances of his career as the teenage thug Pinkie in "Brighton Rock," the film version of Graham Greene's novel. Attenborough's baby face and air of menace combined to make it one of his most memorable roles.

His youthful appearance nearly cost him the lead role in the original cast of "The Mousetrap," because its author, Agatha Christie, didn't think he looked like a police detective. But he starred with his wife, actress Sheila Sim, when the hit play opened in November 1952 and stayed for 700 performances.

In 1959, Attenborough joined fellow actor Bryan Forbes in film production. "The Angry Silence" in 1960 was their successful debut, with Attenborough playing a strike-breaking factory worker. It was one of the first of the gritty, working-class films that heralded Britain's "new realism" of the 1960s.

Together, Forbes and Attenborough produced "Whistle Down the Wind" in 1961 and "The L-Shaped Room" in 1962. Their last film, 1964's "Seance on a Wet Afternoon," won Attenborough Best Actor awards from the London Film Critics and British Film Academy.

In the meantime, he had appeared as a prisoner of war in 1963's "The Great Escape" — known for its classic ensemble cast, including Steve McQueen, James Coburn and Charles Bronson — and starred in "Guns at Batasi," for which he won another British Film Academy award. In 1967, he won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in "The Sand Pebbles."

In 1969, Attenborough turned to directing with "Oh What a Lovely War," a lampoon of World War I, which won a Golden Globe award as best English-language foreign film. Three years later, he made "Young Winston," the story of Winston Churchill's early life.

In between, in 1971, he turned in a chilling performance as 1950s mass murderer John Reginald Christie in "10 Rillington Place."

By the mid-1970s, Attenborough had become a director who only occasionally acted. It was said that he took acting jobs to help finance the movies he wanted to direct.

But his return to directing in the 1977 war movie "A Bridge Too Far" was an expensive disaster, despite its cast of international stars. The following year, the heavy-handed 1978 thriller "Magic" was a failure despite the talents of Anthony Hopkins.

"A Chorus Line," Attenborough's 1985 film of the long-running stage musical, also took a critical beating. And, more recently, 1996's "In Love and War," failed to win much critical support.

Attenborough was often thought to be at his best when trying to coax the finest work from actors. "Gandhi" made a star of its little-known leading man Ben Kingsley, and Denzel Washington won an Oscar nomination for 1987's "Cry Freedom."

Debra Winger was nominated for an Oscar and Anthony Hopkins gave one of his best performances in "Shadowlands," a small, subtle film that won Attenborough perhaps his greatest critical praise.

Attenborough, son of a university principal, was born Aug. 29, 1923, into a family with strong liberal views and a tradition of volunteer work for humanitarian concerns.

One of his younger brothers is naturalist David Attenborough, whose nature documentaries have reached audiences around the world.

Richard Attenborough was a tireless defender of the British film industry. His artistic and humanitarian efforts were rewarded with several international prizes, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Prize in 1983.

He was knighted in 1976, and 17 years later received a life peerage, becoming Baron Attenborough of Richmond upon Thames.

His later years were marked by a horrendous personal tragedy when he lost his daughter Jane and granddaughter in the tsunami that hit Thailand the day after Christmas in 2004.

The heart-broken Attenborough said he was never able to celebrate the Christmas holidays after that.

He had been in frail health since a fall at his house in 2008, and spent his last years in a nursing home with his wife.

He is survived by his wife, their son and a daughter.

Get the point?

RECOURSE ...... is there NONE?

Is there NONE? Is all that we can do is sit quietly by and watch the country go to hell? And while it is going to hell, the leader of our world is out playing golf. I think it is extraordinary that few have come forth and mentioned his lack of leadership. Do we just not care anymore?

A General was killed and buried in Arlington Cemetery. I grant you, his life was not more valuable than any other lost in the war, but, out of respect for ALL people in the service, HE should have attended. He not only did not attend, he played golf. A travesty if there ever was one, and the press said little to nothing.

During that time, volumes and millions of words were produced about a young man being killed, by a policeman, including rioting and looting, mostly by opportunists who used it as an opportunity to commit ROBBERY in the name of a young man who was shot and killed. NOTHING was written about the looters, nothing about what all they got away with, nothing about all the damage they created. The usual cast appeared on this "stage." The Reverend Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, some even had the bold faced audacity to openly ask for donations and increase the amount in their "war chests."

My guess would be that there were some, who looted, filled their coffers, jewelry, clothes and food and then headed to their local welfare office to pick up their checks, or whatever it is they do now.

If he in industry, obama was in industry, his actions, or lack of actions, would cause his termination. I imagine that most other governments would  have a built in system that would cause his removal. In some countries, his "regime" would be overthrown and he would be exiled. Some, maybe even, well, we have seen what some other countries have done.

We furnish him with a fine home, excessive protection, unlimited travel, apparently unlimited vacation, perks, perks, perks ..... and what do we receive in return, he avoids all responsibility, and plays golf, vacations extensively, and plays golf ..... all at our expense.

Are we a great country, or what?   "What, me worry?"

Golf Course Diplomacy??????????

President Barack Obama has been hiding from world debacles and leadership responsibilities on the golf course, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote in a commentary over the weekend, assailing the commander in chief for staying on the greens while life's "hazards" mount.

The column was headlined "The Golf Address" and was a parody of the Gettysburg Address. "FORE! Score? And seven trillion rounds ago," the column began.

"I know it doesn’t look good to have pictures of me grinning in a golf cart juxtaposed with ones of James Foley’s parents crying, and a distraught David Cameron rushing back from his vacation after only one day, and the Pentagon news conference with Chuck Hagel and Gen. Dempsey on the failed mission to rescue the hostages in Syria," Dowd portrayed the president as saying.

"We’re stuck in the rough, going to war all over again in Iraq and maybe striking Syria, too," she wrote. "Every time Chuck says ISIL is 'beyond anything we’ve ever seen,' I sprout seven more gray hairs. But my cool golf caps cover them. If only I could just play through the rest of my presidency." ISIL is one of the alternate names for the Islamic State.

Her column adds to criticism lobbied against Obama, who continues to golf while critics argue he is detached from problems he should be dealing with on the job — from the civil rights issues in Ferguson to the Ebola outbreak in Africa to the ongoing marauding of the Islamic State.

He has played 192 times in his presidency, according to the website GolfCounter.com, which has dubbed him golfer in chief and given him his own social media hashtag, #golftus. While his Martha's Vineyard vacation ended Sunday, he was expected to log about 40 hours on the links during his time there.

"Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon has mocked Obama and his golfing.

"The president isn't really helping himself by going on vacation. In fact, I saw that President Obama played the eighth round of golf of his vacation today. I mean, he's played so much golf, I guess he's getting pretty good, but he's still not quite at the pro level yet," Fallon said, according to Breitbart News.

Fallon's gag included a photo of golfer Rory McIllroy teeing off and the entire gallery yelling "get in the hole," even as Obama stepped up to tee off the audience had stronger words: "Get back to work… Get back to the White House," Breitbart said.

While the president did return to Washington during his trip for two days of meetings last week, he continued to receive criticism, The Hill reported.

"He spent about a million in taxpayer dollars to fly back from Martha's Vineyard on Air Force One to take a few pictures," Republic National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said, according to The Hill. "Then it was back to vacationing and the golf course."

James Foley rescue failed because Obama ‘dragged his feet’

BY: Larry O'Connor
August 21, 2014 12:57 pm

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer (Ret.) is a CIA-trained former senior intelligence officer who wrote the book Operation Dark Heart about the Special Operations successes in the early stages of the Afghanistan war.

He also famously reported to Congress that part of the intelligence breakdown prior to the 9/11 attacks was due to communications failures between the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency’s “Able Danger” project which had identified Mohamed Attah’s terror cell in Brooklyn in 2000.

Thursday morning, Shaffer appeared on WMAL radio in Washington, D.C., to discuss the ISIS execution of American journalist James Foley earlier this week. He told me and co-host Brian Wilson that the recently revealed rescue attempt led by Special Forces earlier this summer failed because President Obama was slow to give the go-ahead:

I’m hearing from my friends in the Pentagon, they are giving him every single option way ahead of time. And let me give you a little secret here: The reason that raid into Syria failed to get Foley and those guys was because the president drug his feet. He waited too long, the intel got stale, and by the time we actually gave the “go” word it failed because we just didn’t react quick enough.

And it's only Monday Morning .............

Officials Say Female Soldier Shot Self At Fort Lee Headquarters

Kettering standoff ends with suspect's arrest

13-year-old Carrollton boy shot, killed

Body of missing woman found in Current River

3 people, including toddler, found dead in home

Lehigh County man dies after assault in beach town

Woman Dies As Migrants Come Ashore in Hillsboro Beach

Why?

Some comments ...........

Only watched part of a few football games  so far, already two carted off the field on stretchers. One high school game, MOM is right there with her son, going to the hospital with him.... M. IOMS are great things.

A whole lot of High School football on TV, that may be the next big push .... college and pro is saturated, so lets do high school ... biggest emphasis is where they are committed to go to college. I wonder just how many are employed in "sports" ..... humongous number. We used to have the likes of Bill Stern, Red Barber, now there are thousands of faces .... no names, just suits, ties and faces, talking,  talking, talking incessantly talking .... Watching the "GEICO ESPN High School Kickoff Program"  the two guys I have never seen or heard have talked ... non stop .... for seven minutes .... and, they ain't done yet.

The NFL, Congress and others are concerned about football injuries, on the one hand, and on the other, more, much, much more coverage of the game ...... MORE injuries ..... MORE games ..... bottom line, TV will stop at nothing to fill airtime, which relates to MONEY coming in ...

Let's face it, be honest, TV rules our lives ..................

Oh, they are signing off their halftime program, talking about all the injuries, so far ..... ODD...

Phil Mickelson hits ball from beer tent again, makes bet with fan during Barclays round

By Brendan Porath

Phil Mickelson's rounds are almost always interesting, but Saturday's third round at the Barclays featured a lost bet with a fan and a second straight wedge shot right off the hospitality grandstand.
Unfortunately, Phil Mickelson is not going to make the secondary 70-man cut at The Barclays. So we won't get to see if he can bomb a drive into the grandstand of the 5th hole and play it off the carpet for a third straight day.

Mickelson delivered the highlight of the day Friday afternoon when, instead of taking relief, he decided to play it out of the hospitality grandstand with beer bottles strewn about and fans crowding around him.

Saturday's third round was played in front of much smaller crowds, as Phil, who started near the bottom of the leaderboard, had a tee time before 8 a.m. So when he bombed one off the cart path yet again at this short drivable par-4, there wasn't as large a crowd to scatter. He could also make his way to his ball with far less obstruction and security.

This one was actually a tougher shot, with that tent up on the deck obstructing his view and line to the pin. But Mickelson, perhaps thanks to Friday's practice, picked it pretty clean and dropped this one on the green for a two-putt par, which he said was "almost birdie."

The maintenance crew at Ridgewood Country Club decided to have a little fun with the back-to-back shots out of the hospitality area. When fans arrived to that structure on Saturday morning, the above.

America's Top Military Officer Explained The Big ISIS Problem In One Sentence

REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey at a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, August 21, 2014.

“This is an organization that has an apocalyptic end-of-days strategic vision that will eventually have to be defeated,” General Martin E. Dempsey, U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, America's top military officer, told a press briefing this week that the mere existence of ISIS is clearly a problem that had to be addressed.

The question now is how.

Demspey noted that destroying ISIS will require " the application of all of the tools of [U.S.] national power — diplomatic, economic, information, military."

In fact, as counterterrorism expert Brian Fishman explained, truly defeating ISIS would require full-scale war that would involve fighting in both Iraq and Syria.

"Can they be defeated without addressing that part of the organization that resides in Syria? The answer is no," Dempsey told reporters at the Pentagon.

That is where the real challenge lies for the Obama administration, which decided years ago that the U.S. was not going to “get in the middle of somebody else’s civil war.” ISIS has effectively blurred the border between Iraq and Syria, using the eastern Syrian city of Raqqa as a de facto capital while extending the terror group's reach in Iraq.

"The notion that the Iraq war can be separated from the Syrian civil war is pure fantasy," Shadi Hamid, an expert on Islamist groups at the Brookings Institution, told McClatchy. "This is what’s so worrying about the Obama administration’s approach. There is no plan. There is no vision on that front. There is no effort to talk about Syria in a different way."

A senior U.S. defense official also told McClatchy that there "is no policy" to confront ISIS in Syria.

Sunday morning service

It's Sunday Morning

Like me, you possibly did not attend church this morning

We all need some time to reflect

Two songs here, by the Gaither Vocal Band

Listen to them and your day will be better

HIDE THOU ME

The members are Bill Gaither, Michael English, Mark Lowry, 

David Phelps and Wes Hampton

I think this is perhaps the finest tenor in Gospel music, or anywhere, David Phelps

does the solo .. the other members of the group anticipate his "note"

Watch their reaction ... few can hit such a note

AT THE CROSS

May the peace of the lord be with you now and always ......

5 Dead, Including 2 Kids, in Fiery NY Crash

Five people, including two children, are dead after a car veered off a Long Island highway, struck a tree and burst into flames, authorities said Sunday.

A Honda Accord driven by 37-year-old Myriam Labrun, of Brooklyn, was traveling westbound on the Southern State Parkway when it ran off the highway just east of exit 38, New York State Police said. The vehicle struck a tree just before 11 p.m. Saturday before bursting into flames. Officials say three adults and two children in the vehicle died in the crash.

State police did not immediately release any information on the other four victims of the crash.

It wasn't immediately known why the car left the highway, state police said. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Mom of boys with Lyme disease fights for chickens

BRIDGETON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey woman is fighting to keep the chickens she bought to eat ticks after her sons contracted Lyme disease.

NBC40 reports that Jamie Warner wants Bridgeton City Council to change an ordinance to allow her to raise chickens.

Warner says her boys contracted Lyme disease while playing in the backyard.

After that, she says, she visited an online chicken forum to ask posters if chickens would eat ticks. She says, "A lot of people were like, 'Oh, chickens will eat anything.'"

Warner says the chickens also help feed her family.

Councilman Mike Zapolski says lawmakers are researching the issue and don't want to create problems in the rest of the city by changing the law.

Bridgeton is a city of about 25,000 residents in southern New Jersey.

Obama orders review of U.S. police use of military hardware

By Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal

EDGARTOWN Mass./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered a review of the distribution of military hardware to state and local police out of concern at how such equipment has been used during racial unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.

The president ordered the examination of federal programs and funding that enable state and local law enforcement to purchase such equipment, a senior Obama administration official said on Saturday.

Images of police wielding military-style guns and armor have shocked many Americans following clashes that were triggered by the fatal shooting of a black teenager, Michael Brown, by a white police officer in Ferguson two weeks ago.

Obama wants to know whether the programs, which were expanded after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, are appropriate and whether state and local law enforcement are given proper training, the official said.

The review will be led by White House staff including the Domestic Policy Council, the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, and relevant U.S. agencies including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice and Treasury, and conducted in coordination with Congress.

Obama signaled he would review the programs at a White House news conference on Monday when he said he wanted to make sure police were purchasing equipment they actually needed because there is "a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement and we don't want those lines blurred."

"I think,  we need all this heavy stuff in the hands of Homeland Security and FEMA, people we know we can trust ....................."

There ain't no more awe no more

We used to see our heroes on the big screen, or in a newsreel, occasionally, maybe get a glimpse of them in person, but they were basically images in our minds. I loved Ester Williams, I forget how many times I watched "Thrill of a Romance." Gene Autry, Tim Holt, Johnny Mack Brown. I dreamed of being a cowboy, I wanted a ranch. I wanted one so badly, that I went through our house, acquiring all the money I could, to buy that ranch. Unfortunately, I took some, well almost all, that didn't belong to me. It was a few days till I could sit down. Didn't want the ranch quite so badly.

We heard their voices on the radio, the Lux Radio Theatre and some others would produce "radio theater." But basically, all of our heroes were images in our heads only, a diistance away.

In '52, joined the Navy, sent to California, in the station out there saw Patti Page, The Rage, my first celebrity. Soon after, saw Frank Lovejoy and Virginia Mayo. Visited with a Navy buddy who lived in LA, his girlfriend's Dad was a director. Sitting at his pool in Beverly Hills one afternoon, Dan Dailey came in, "Hi Dan."

Now, with TV and the Internet, especially Facebook, I know when Angie Harmon goes on vacation, where she goes, and pictures of her trip. I love good Southern Gospel Music. I have a number of them on my Facebook, I have corresponded via EMail with Janet Paschal. Shared a story with her, she thanked me. I  told Michael English I liked a jacket he wore, he thanked me, had forgotten where he got it though, off white, three button double breasted ... I want one with dark buttons.

I have had some "celebrities" on Facebook, took them off, I did not want or need to know all they were posting.

I lost much of that "awe" working in Nevada ... I was more important to the casino than they were. Ego thing, I guess, musicians were B-flats, the big stars were money, dollar signs.

Below is a list of those I am in awe of, today .... I'm thinking, maybe it is because I am older than them, almost all of them. I guess I am just in awe of ........ Miss Brooklyn and Miss Emma, the girls, my two great granddaughters ...................

I guess I dozed off ....................

FOOTBALL. When I was in high school, in the 40's, we used to go to the games on a Friday night. We had a band, a small stadium and we had "school spirit." We only had 89 students in our class, so not a big school by any means.

I listened to games on the radio on Saturday, bought those pre-season magazines with their "potential" stories and those great pictures, running backs were doing the "stiff arm," quarterbacks were passing, lineman were growling. It was a Saturday sport.

Last night and today I am watching high school football, down South, played in stadiums that many colleges would have been proud of years ago. Carpet on the field, graphics all over the field, advertising, signage, and these are just high schools.

There is something ironic, there is a segment trying to prove how harmful football can be, at all levels, yet it just grows and grows and grows. On another channel, a pre-season show of the pre-game show, they just can't wait for the season to begin.

Nancy Drew used to take a train to the big game, wear a raccoon coat, ride in a jalopy, wear a big chrysanthemum, and carry a pennant with the name of her team. There would be a big dance after the game, the players would enter to loud cheers, they were heroes, they were football players who had played in the big game.

Thanks to television, it is now a billion dollar industry, a multi-billion dollar industry. There will be games almost every day, at one time or another.

If the game is televised, there will be a man down on the field, HE is the TV  guy .... when his arm is raised, stop, don't play ...... till ..... his arm goes down, then the game can continue. Thanks to TV and the money they generate for the schools, college players soon will be "paid to play." If these high school games continue, and get bigger and bigger .... may it can become a good high school job ..... to play football. Yes, there is Little League football. Soon we may see signs for a DAYCARE FOOTBALL TRAINING CAMP.

All, thanks to television and their desire to generate BILLIONS .. what comes at BILLIONS?

I remember in the 50's, in Reno, we all dreamed of hitting a KENO ticket, $1.10 eight spot.... pick all 8 and you will 25,000.00 .... enough to go home, get a new car, buy a house and almost retire. Now, they won't write lottery tickets for that amount ...

Is the man at the helm of our Ship of State ..... capable

Is the right person, in what could be the most critical time in our countries history at the helm? He certainly is no Eisenhower, and perhaps the least capable president we have had making this decisions affecting our country. I honestly do not know, of the leadership we have in Washington at the present time, of anyone I could honestly say I would feel "comfortable" with.

I do know we now have the least qualified individual, in between golf games, making these decisions. We must be honest about it, he has no experience, no knowledge, no qualifications to make such decisions. Look at the mess he has us in now, and where is he, on the golf course, or flying, at our expense, to a fund raiser, to ..... to ..... what .... he won't be running again ...... will he?

In my opinion, we have little to NO knowledge of ISIS and their capabilities .... while they are planning, possibly our demise, he is concerned about a shooting, which we all should be, or on the golf course. Maybe we are better off while he is playing golf than when he is in his, or our, office.

I pray each night, that there are those, advising and guiding his decisions who are knowledgeable, and his ego is such, that he puts his own agenda aside and listens to those who hopefully have the best interests of our country uppermost in their minds.

Is Queeg in command, does obama keep two golf balls in motion in his hand, where is Fred MacMurray when we need him.

Reflecting a bit ..........

Childhood, I was a child in the 30's and 40's, how times have changed. I am on a Facebook site, "I Grew Up in the 40's ... etc." and it brings back so many memories. When I see all the memories of our youth I feel sorry for the kids today, then miss out on so much ... character molding ... just sitting and watching either a computer screen or a TV screen. We played in dirt, caught lightening bugs, played in an alley, spent a lot of time in our alley. We got orange crates from the corner market, nailed roller skates to them, and made ... I don't know we called them. I know if the small skate wheels got caught in a rut, the ensuing accident could throw you a few feet.

We stayed out and played till the streetlights came on, then it was time to go home. We would take a bath, put on pajamas and head downstairs to listen to the old Philco Radio. Amos and Andy, Red Skelton, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and, we used our ..... imagination. Mom was there, so was Dad, often, my brother, occasionally some neighbors might drop by .... or earlier in the evening, we would all sit on the front porch, wave a lot, talk with neighbors who dropped by, and from that viewpoint, knew all that was going on in the neighborhood.

In the afternoon I would work on my Crystal Radio Set. I once ordered a private detective course from the Johnson Smith Catalog, a world of entertainment just in that catalog. Once I ordered X-ray glasses so I could look through girls dresses, they didn't work. I ordered a lot of items from that catalog, and did it all while listening to Jack Armstrong and Captain Midnight and all the other afternoon radio shows.

I remember that .... well .... spitting was big then. It was a  ... thing .... spitters were tough, it was a ... man thing. You ended a conversation with a spit .... especially an argument or a heated discussion. It was the period at the end of the sentence. You had to practice it though, nothing more embarrassing than .... looking cool and confident, giving ..... the glance ..... defiantly spitting, and it drools on to your chin. Nothing worse.

SMI - 8/23/14

Trying to get in to that Saturday Morning Frame of Mind ... harder than it used to be, the cloudy, rainy weather doesn't help much either .... gloomy, actually.

I've checked the news, nothing pops out at me. I am still contemplating the ISIS threat. I hope we, in Washington, don't arrogantly fluff it off, and tell ourselves that it "can't happen here." I think it is a real threat and my greatest concern is our "golfing leader" who could be worrying more about his "slice" than the situation. We have to be realistic, we have an unconcerned, inexperienced lightweight at the helm that is making the decisions. That is the scary part.

We have at least two potential "wars" on our hands. One abroad, one on our own soil.

"When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers." 

Another "demonstration" in the works, Al Sharpton will lead the way, in New York .... I forget what it is for.

Watched high school football last night from South Carolina ..... the game was good, the play, quality, the emphasis, where they are going to college. Football is now a "stage" ..... an "audition" .... a TV audition, actually, grooming them for their "ticket" to college and then ................. THE PROS. 13 year old Mo'na, the young lady phenom, UConn and then the pros. We haven't even seen her play basketball yet, just baseball. I remember, in the old days, kids wanted to go to college and then become engineers or doctors or lawyers, rarely hear that anymore, just the lady athletes that want to accomplish something ..... worthwhile. "Help me, I'm sick, get me a doctor." ........ "Ah, all we got here is ball players, sorry."

Is football BIG in Columbus, Ohio. Flags were at half mast, black was the color of the week. Did someone die, what tragedy occurred, did anyone die. No, actually the OSU quarterback, re injured his shoulder and won't be able to play this season. So now, some kid has to come through this year, do well, with the promise of NOT PLAYING next year, because the other guy is comin back cause he got a nuther year he can play. Oh!

Sharpton and Jesse are planning a "protest" in Columbus, Ohio, they don't feel the Orthopedic Surgeon did all he could for the Ohio State quarterback who is going to have to sit out this season, and it is also hurting his chances of participating  in a "class action lawsuit" on Head Injuries that could award him millions of dollars.

Winter, Spring, Summer, Football ... One network is considering a Channel ... offering .... football .... 24/7. ."AFN coming to you twenty four hours a day ..... The Game Never Ends"

Thoughts for a Friday Evening

Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe has warned that Islamic State extremists are attempting to develop a weapon to blow up a major city in the United States.

"We're in the most dangerous position we've ever been in as a nation," the ranking GOP member of the Senate Armed Services Committee told Fox 25 TV station in Oklahoma City.

Referring to the beheading of American journalist James Foley, Inhofe said that the terror group, also known as ISIS, has now set its sights on Americans and targets on U.S. soil.

Daddy, I know what I want to be.

"Daddy, I wanna be a policeman when I grow up!"

"Why not a fireman?"

What advice for this kid. It is probably better than wanting to be a politician. With that thought in mind, what is the difference between being a cop and a politician?

At least, being a politician you don't have to think, just do what you are told. On that thought, there are mainly good policemen, some bad, but no good politicians. By the time you decide to be a politician, or get elected, it is already too late. Being on Welfare and being a Politician are one in the same. They both lived off of the labors of others. However, there is probably less fraud in the welfare system. "Hi Senator, have you ever worked in your life, or always been a politician."

"Sir, I can answer that in one brief sentence, what is your name again. I have been in public service all of my life trying to do what is best for those who have voted for me and supported me with their generous cash donations. Here is my card, sir, and a web address where you can send, if desired, money to my  campaign committee, which will be put to good use, in keeping me in office so that I may uphold all of the values that we hold dear. I will do all I can to make sure our schools are sound, our children get a good education, and then, I want jobs, right here in our state, good jobs, I want to bring them all back from China and Japan. And, I want to bring our boys and girls back from the fighting overseas, and a system that will take care of them when they return, and I want them to have an educational opportunity also. so that when the get their new job, their taxes will be less, and their  hospitalization second to none in the world so that they can live in their new home safe and secure and their children get the education they deserve. Miss Hanley here, my private secretary and I share the same ...... values.

"Dad, I decided I want to be a priest,"

"Oh, about that, Junior."

Is No News ... Good News?

I imagine the news media is praying for a miracle of some kind, all these high payed "news experts" sitting around doing nothing. Mo'ne is no longer news, what a meteoric rise that was, IS cover at 13, then, the fall, from notoriety. 

A beheading, while newsworthy, is rather gross to talk about. Shootings are not too bad, clean and simple but, a beheading, ugh. However, there is a cost comparison, no cost to a beheading, a bullet, on the other hand, costs money. May be why the French used the old guillotine, saved money. They all result in death, regardless of the means.

The riots are dwindling down, maybe obama will go on another vacation, or a "neglected" General may be killed. I am still furious about that. I do wish some deep pocket would instigate a lawsuit, Dereliction of Duty. I think it was his duty to attend, rather than play golf. What a slap in the face to the military that was. 

I think that "history" will record that this is the darkest period in our nation's history. I originally said "blackest" ... changed it to darkest. I am convinced that his racial background had noting to do with his disastrous term in office. I think he is congenitally an immoral, unprincipled egotist who cares only for himself and gives no thought at all, to others, and especially, the country he lives in, presently. I think the fact that he was even elected is a tribute to his alter ego, his perception, and the inability of "man" to perceived such differences.

Color does make a difference .............

It has been reported that cops kill about 500 innocent Americans per year. Yet most of those stories stay buried or at best, see limited life in local media or the blogosphere. Only the select, as in selected by the media, stories become as big as the Michael Brown story. Certain stories simply transcend the perceived boredom of news headlines and become a part of pop culture.

Does the media intentionally stir up racial hatred? Is it part of their agenda?
Is it because blacks in Ferguson rioted and looted while whites in Salt Lake City have remained calm?

America needs to find answers, because this racial divide is moronic. We are all “Americans,” and not “African-Americans,” or “Asian-Americans,” or “Redneck-Americans,” or anything else. We are Americans first, and we need to remember that. It is OK to love and celebrate your heritage. It is not OK to let it consume who you are and carry hatred that will explode at a moment’s notice.

Our Commander in Chief?

Obama administration broke law in Bergdahl exchange

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Thursday, August 21, 2014

Obama administration officials broke two federal laws when they exchanged Taliban warriors for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the government’s top investigative office said in a legal report Thursday.

Officials should have given Congress a 30-day heads-up, and also illegally switched money from one account to another to conduct the swap, the Government Accountability Office said.

President Obama had defended the swap as a legal use of his powers as commander in chief, and said he had to keep Congress in the dark in order to preserve secrecy in the delicate negotiations with the Taliban.

Rebecca Rhue Dooley

Rebecca Rhue Dooley was perhaps the most gracious woman I have ever met. She was my brother's wife.My brother met her while in college, and around '43 or '44 she came to Dayton to meet his family. She was the youngest of three sisters, all from Indiana.

Brother Bud went in to the service in '43, out of college, and their courtship apparently flourished. In '44, Bud, or Dean, his real name, was getting a weekend leave. He was station in Cuba at the Naval Base, where his submarine, the S-11, was in port. He was going to fly to Miami and meet us. We got down a day or two early, and Becky, wanted to look her best, laid out in the sun, too long. She was red and puffy when he finally got to Miami.

After the war, the got married, and their first job was a coaching job in Monrovia, Indiana, a crossroads town, but a hotbed of basketball. They lived in an old farmhouse they rented from Cotty Dillon. It was heated by an old stove, no plumbing or running water. Rebecca, being the trooper that she was, made a home for them and took it "like a trooper." We went over for a Thanksgiving visit. Dad had made her a, well, an indoor commode, a wooden box with a lid, hole in the top, etc., and a bucket. For those times when you didn't want to make to "walk" outside.

After a few years, they moved to Dayton, brother too a coaching job there. I was away to school, then the Navy, so really saw little of them. Then they moved to Michigan and then to Arizona, so my time with them was limited and rare.

However, during that time, Rebecca was diagnosed with ALS, the Lou Gehrig's Disease as it is called today and the reason for all of the ice water dousings. I was not around her during this part of her life, I only have heard stories about it. It must be a hideous thing to see, the gradual loss of ..... everything.

I forget the year, but Kevin Dooley, her son, was getting married. We attended the wedding. Rebecca, had leg braces attached to her weakened legs .... I am tearing up a bit just recalling that incident .... she was determined to dance with her son at his wedding, and she did ... how difficult for her ... I can only imagine.

ALS took a wonderful lady, a mother and a wife, and a sister in law .... I must admit I am thankful I did not witness that insidious gradual decline of her life ... Rebecca Rhue Dooley .... incidentally, her sister just passed away recently, at nearly 104.