June 24, 2014 - Some thoughts

Well, I've checked the news, about the same, the world is in a sad state.

Villages are being abducted in Nigeria, our soldiers are getting killed, even by "friendly" fire, little towns are being equipped with heavily armored vehicles, that are no longer of any used to the troops, so now, Smallville has an Assault Vehicle with capabilities beyond their wildest dreams. How great with 4th of July parades coming up. Smallville now has one of the finest armored vehicles in the world. Both of their policemen are being trained in its use.

A college student gets trapped in a large sculpture of a vagina. When reporters confronted him after being extricated from the vagina, the embarrassed college student was overheard saying, "I'm glad it wasn't a rectum." The sculpture creator, Peruvian-born artist Fernando de la Jara, stated, "This giant vagina was never intended to be penetrated this way."

Some in Washington in the House are pondering whether to consider a lawsuit against the president for refusing to carry out the laws. One Senator was overheard saying, "Where to start?" Another chimed in, "How can we sue him if he is an illegal. he has to be a citizen, right?"

I, like many, am excited about the new TV shows that are being advertised for Fall viewing. So many new, unique and unheard of "concepts" and topics, staggers the mind. One TV executive admitted that they have a "think tank" group isolated in an abandoned mental institution in Maine, in an undisclosed location. We gave them "free reign." We lowered the bar, no idea was excluded, imaginations ran wild, so to speak. When queried about the makeup of the "group." the executive replied, "All ages, all levels, we left the door open for creative ideas, no holds barred, so to speak, we wanted creativity." He further went on to say, "If you think monkeys don't have good ideas you've got another thing coming."

Next week, the Fourth of July, we celebrate our country, our heritage. Let's hope that the terrorists lay down their bombs for the day. Let's take down the Muslim flags and fly "Old Glory," at least for the day. Let's dedicate the day to our Forefathers who founded this great nation. As a nation, let's all head to our cemeteries and perhaps turn the bodies back to their original position, as all of them have "turned over in their graves" in recent years.

Let's "beef up security" and celebrate the day. Enjoy the fireworks displays, our government spends millions of dollars on them, and, with any luck at all, some of those watching, their eyes will be lifted to the multi colors in the sky, and for a few fleeting minutes, the homeless and the hungry and the unemployed and the illegals, the single parent families, the unmarried couples, etc., etc., etc., will enjoy a moment of pride.

The climate is great though ....

Folks in San Diego witnessed what was either the worst Fourth of July fireworks celebration — or the absolute best — when a technical malfunction caused all of their pyrotechnics to go off at the same time.

The annual Big Bay Boom celebration began and ended in spectacular fashion when an inadvertent signal set off the explosion about five minutes early and caused the entire 18 minute show to take place in about 15 seconds.

 Confused spectators waited around for what they thought was going to be the rest of the show, but were sent home and told the show (that was supposed to be choreographed to music) was canceled.

Are we an intelligent race of people here in the USA, or what. 

Fires in Colorado, heat wave over much of the country, dry, dry, dry ..... 

and what are they saying on the news ...............

 FIREWORKS ... FIREWORKS ..... FIREWORKS

A record number of fireworks displays this year

 ........... all over, everywhere, does that make sense to anyone?

I wonder how many fires the fireworks will start.

I wonder?

Watching the LAVISH fireworks display from Columbus, Ohio ...... awesome ...... I always have to wonder if there isn't some child, girl or boy, perhaps homeless, Father out of work, hungry, sleeping under a bridge, and they hear the explosions, they peer out from under their bridge and see all of those fireworks, all of those explosions, what must that child be thinking................

They just did the finale .... totally awesome, greater than last year .

But I have to wonder what is going on in that poor child's head..............

Who Pays For Red, White & BOOM!?

by Marshall McPeek

Many people have written to NBC 4 and nbc4i.com to ask why, in a difficult economy, the city is spending tax dollars to put on such a lavish fireworks display and celebration.

The good news for taxpayers is: There are no tax dollars being spent on Red, White & BOOM!

The entire cost is picked up by corporate sponsors, fees charged for concession spaces, beverage sales and private-party site rentals.

"I think Red, White & Boom is a shameful waste of money," wrote NBC 4 viewer Vickie Martin. "I'm sure it costs $100s of thousands of dollars to put on this show."

Red, White & BOOM! has a budget of nearly $500,000. That covers the cost of the huge fireworks display plus all the extra police, firefighters and cleanup.

"We pay for those police that are special duty as overtime -- and it's a significant number within the budget," says BOOM! Executive Director Mike Collins. "The police that are normally on duty anyway, or assigned to be on duty, that is picked up by the city because it's part of their direct assignment. It's everything over that that the event pays for."

Collins says the event actually generates tax dollars for the city because it is a huge draw for visitors and tourists. It's the largest one-day event in Ohio.

"It brings in between $8 million to $9 million in economic impact in a one-day proposition," Collins points out. "So, if you just take taxes and bed taxes and put other things on top of this, this is an extremely valuable commodity to the operations of the community."

I see some communities have cancelled, or changed their festivities for this year due to the economy. It appears that the display in Columbus, Ohio is subsidized by sponsors. I would rather see them take that half-million and put on a BIG picnic and day long celebration of our Independence, and invite the homeless and the hungry in Central Ohio. I have always wondered how many homeless and hungry are looking up at the fireworks display, and what is going through thier minds.?

I can imagine nothing worse than some poor child, living in a park or under a bridge, hungry, looking up and watching, as the brilliant fireworks explode in the sky. What thoughts must run through such a child's mind?