Carole King and James Taylor

My sister surprised me and sent me the CD and DVD of CAROLE KING AND JAMES TAYLOR LIVE AT THE TROUBADOUR.   I'm just listening to it now and LOVING IT.  And the recording is fabulous for a live recording, plus I'm listening to it on the computer and it sounds great!
EVERY song is one you'll remember only it's done BETTER....you'll be smiling and maybe get a tad teary with good memories of days gone by?!  I highly recommend it...HERE is the Amazon.com page for it.....   It's FABULOUS.  
Geeez, as I listen it just gets better and better...ooh..I think "I FEEL THE EARTH MOVE UNDER MY FEET!"
Tomorrow, I'm also doing another blog about MUSIC but this time there's some POLITICS thrown in and I think you might want to comment; I hope so.......looking forward to hearing from you!    Now go below and give ol' Shirley "what fer!" :-)
z

Obama's paying minorities for 'fraud'....Shirley Sherrod........you listening?

When you read the following information, please keep SHIRLEY SHERROD in mind.  Do you think Obama will make restitution to the Black farmers she screwed (sorry, there's just no other word)?

USDA Announces $1.3B Fund for Female, Hispanic Farmers Claiming Discrimination

The Obama administration plans to distribute $1.3 billion to female and Hispanic farmers who claim they were discriminated against by the federal government.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a process for distributing the money Friday. The move comes after Congress approved a separate $4.6 billion settlement for black and Native American farmers who claimed discrimination.

Though some lawmakers alleged the claims process for black farmers was rife with fraud, the administration has pushed to extend settlement money to other minority groups. (Z: Mr. Obama, after what he said today at the governor's meeting, will probably claim that the lawmakers who allege fraud are just 'vilifying' minority groups, huh?)

"The Obama administration has made it a priority to resolve all claims of past discrimination at USDA, and we are committed to closing this sad chapter in USDA's history," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement Friday. "Women and Hispanic farmers and ranchers who allege past discrimination can now come forward to participate in a claims process in which they have the opportunity to receive compensation."

The administration first offered that settlement in May.

The farmers and ranchers in all these cases claim they were discriminated against over a period of decades when trying to obtain USDA farm loans. The Hispanic and female farmers have been seeking restitution in court since shortly after the black-farmers case was filed more than a decade ago.

The USDA-announced claims process would provide at least $1.33 billion, plus another $160 million for debt relief. The USDA said the system would provide up to $50,000 to any Hispanic or female farmer "who can show that USDA denied them a loan or loan servicing for discriminatory reasons" between 1981 and 2000.

But critics say that, in the case of the settlement process for black farmers, some of the claimants didn't have to prove much in order to receive the payments. Lawmakers who raised concern said whistleblowers from the Department of Agriculture had come to them in confidence to warn that the money is going to claimants who don't deserve it -- a charge the USDA denies. 

The $4.6 billion settlement approved late last year marked the second round of payments for black farmers who claimed they were discriminated against. The government had paid out about $1 billion before that. (end of article)

Z: Well, he is buying one HECK of a lot of votes, isn't he?  I wonder how many female farmers there are...don't you?    Discrimination is never a good thing but to not have to prove much in order to receive OUR MONEY?    Boy, you and I sure have to jump through hoops to prove anything with our government, don't we.   IRS incompetence might have screwed me out of  receiving monies due me from Germany in Mr. Z's name, after years of hard work......how's THAT for efficient?  Maybe I'll write Mr. Obama and he'll pay me for this gross inefficiency.

Z

A leftist columnist makes a real boob of herself......

The Daily Beast has THIS ARTICLE which Yahoo chose to headline. 
The first sentence of the article is this "Michelle Obama has officially endorsed breastfeeding, and her Tea Party critics are slamming her for it."   
MEDIA BIAS EXTRAORDINAIRE!  Can one of you find where any of the Conservative women in the article "slammed" anybody for endorsing breastfeeding, which all of them have done with their own children? :-)


The author goes on to add "And just for good measure, Sarah Palin threw a shot, too. Speaking on Long Island, the former governor of Alaska said, "No wonder Michelle Obama is telling everybody you'd better breastfeed your babies. I'm looking and say, 'Yeah, you better because the price of milk is so high right now.'" Of course, this bad joke doesn't quite track, since babies aren't supposed to drink cow's milk.

I thought that was funny... And, as for 'cow's milk'..REALLY?  Did the lefties really think she was being that literal?  THIS article calls her remark above "a crack at Michelle Obama"....can you explain that to me?  It was an impromptu talk, she threw that in, she's right (if something is expensive and you can get if free,...?), and the left has skewered her.  WHY?  I am no fan of Sarah Palin's anymore but this criticism was totally undeserved and capitalized on by the media for days.

So, someone show me where ANY Conservative woman in that whole article criticized Michelle Obama for endorsing breastfeeding, okay?  Good luck!

z

MUSTANG has written an amazing piece....please don't miss it...click HERE.

z

Sunday Faith Blog......

"JEEEEEZZZUUUUUUZZZZZ wants YOU to send MONEY!"  

Even if you only see Christian TV when you're channel surfing, you know that it's wild sometimes.  You flip the channels and there is a woman with BIG pink hair and long black Tammy Fay eyelashes.....or a man wearing huge gold pinkie rings and chunky gold chains around his neck.  People are crying or yelling or getting a crowd to dance around with them.   I have a hard time watching them and I wonder how people who aren't Christians view that?   Well, no, I don't wonder....not really; they look at the crazy hair and makeup and jewelry and really big gold thrones people are sitting on and think "Well, I was flirting with Christianity, but I don't want to be like THAT!" 

Shortly after our return from our years in Paris, Mr Z and I had dinner with a good friend.  We 'came out' and told her our Christian faith had grown and how much it meant to us and had changed our lives. Jackie is wary of any faith because her mother had dragged her through a very strange cult as a child.  She looked at us as if we were never going to drink martinis or tell great jokes again!.  I knew how she felt; I was born into a Christian family and went to church until college but, before my stronger faith kicked in, those "kooks" who really walked the walk were nobody I wanted to be like. And "Born Agains?" The media's misrepresented that phrase so badly I still find myself cringing when I hear it though I know the true meaning of it now.

That night after we talked to our friend, Mr Z and I were watching TV and I was channel surfing and came upon one of the more riotous Christian programs with screaming and yelling and hands waving and music pumping and people crying!  I said to my husband "OH, man....Jackie thinks we're like THAT now."  He grimaced.  We were stronger Christians now....how could she think we weren't like that?

But, we were not.  Actually, nobody I know personally is.  If people feel their faith like that, more power to them, but it's a deal breaker for those without faith, in my humble opinion.  TV like that makes Christianity look like it's all about big money for big jewelry, emotionality that feels too big for most of us, a kind of exaggeration that wears one out! Where in the Bible does anybody say anything about that stuff!?

Sometimes, I get comments like "He died...so, faith didn't help HIM, did it!"  or "how can bad things happen if there's a God?"  When I hear questions like that, I wonder if the person asking has actually considered that I had never thought that very thing.  I absolutely understand those questions...I had them myself, BIG TIME.  Sometimes, I still do. Do people think Christians haven't given things like that any thought at all, that we just BELIEVE for some ...reason?  We're just dopey followers, people looking for a crutch?

No, we are called to something and we don't know quite what or how it happens...... "was it something I heard?"  "was it that thing I read?" but we soon learn why.  Then we start reading Scripture and some of those questions start smoothing out in our mind, it sets us straight and then we read C.S. Lewis or other great Christian minds, and we work things out and all of that "how could GOD do that?" stuff begins to actually make sense.  Then, something starts to happen that you don't understand.  Suddenly, Christian writings you read a year ago that you couldn't grasp become graspable.  It's the oddest thing as everything starts to make sense and you realize you don't have to have pink hair or wear gold chains or try to convert people or not have a martini to be a Christian!  (whew)  I like reading the C.S. Lewis types because my personality demands I come to Christ through a more academic viewpoint than a 'feeling' viewpoint, though feeling does feel good!  (not quite as good as those people on TV seem to be feeling, but very good!).


My point is that Christian faith is a quiet thing and doesn't have to be what some of us see on television.   It can be about worshiping at a church and enjoying the other people there and I strongly encourage making friends with people who share your faith;  actresses, doctors, realtors, housewives, teachers, retirees, people who are kind, don't gossip, want the best for you, pray for you, have fun with you, people you can trust, my favorite attribute in anyone because I'm not fond of gossip....It's being with great people in your  local Community Bible Study or Bible Study Fellowship program, or it's just you and your Bible alone, picking a Psalm to read or some shorter verse that you find is just the message you needed to hear that morning (happens ALL the time).... .  Or it's you and your sweet prayers at night, or in the morning.  Or at your desk at work asking God to help you and suddenly realizing it feels like he reminded you that report could use one more page and then it'll be just right ("how'd He know that?")  it, or while driving to the store or to the beach..  It's mostly just you and Him.  Talking to Him!   It's having hope in an eternal afterlife that's beautiful and beats the other direction (also an eternity) 'all to hell'!

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."  Colossians 2: 6,7

"If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world."  C. S. Lewis

Even if you're not a pray-er try it today..."Thanks God.....great parking spot"  "Thanks, God, my sister's baby's better!"  "Thanks, God, your weather is perfect!"   "Thanks God I have this amazing family."   "Thank GOD I have GeeeZ to read every day!" (okay, I had to throw that in)!


Act with love,....  I'm trying every day...slowly... every day....fail, then try again, it isn't easy! 
Have a really happy Sunday...........pray with joy you're up and healthy, pray for a parking space, pray that you're in such a beautiful place to live.........pray all day;  you won't  know what hit you but I guarantee it will be a better day than yesterday!

BIG hugs and blessings to you all...



z

Obama's failed diplomacy?

The Egypt Crisis and other of Obama's diplomacy attempts are well handled here.  This is a MUST SEE...and you need to watch till the end.  Make sure you catch how hearing an expert in the field's opinions impressed an always-biased hostess  :-)

2012 You choose

Let's duke it out:   Who do you want to run in the next election and WHY?   And for VP?
And for Secretary of State....to deal with THE WORLD?  

Money, Greed and God

HERE is a review of a book I recommend.  I posted two years ago that I thought capitalism can't survive without traits like morality and goodness and how I thought faith (God) was a major contributor to those characteristics.

Jay W. Richards, the author of the book, obviously goes far more into the subject than I did, but I find it intriguing and hope you do, too.  Here's a paragraph from the review:

The book divides into eight chapters, with each chapter discussing a common held economic myth like the “piety myth” or “nirvana myth.” Richards says the piety myth pertains to “focusing on our good intentions rather than on the unintended consequences of our actions.” The nirvana myth characterizes the act of “contrasting capitalism with an unrealizable ideal rather than with its live alternatives.” Richards himself states, “The question isn’t whether capitalism measures up to the kingdom of God. The question is whether there’s a better alternative in this life.”

What do you think?   I was pleased to see someone's devoted a lot of time and thinking to this subject and hope you weigh in on my hypothesis (above in red), too.

Thanks!
z

Media smear.........look familiar?

Ain't THIS the truth?

z

Obama's Recruiting for "his movement" ?

HERE is an article about Obama entitled:  OBAMA RECRUITS AN ARMY OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS TO CARRY FORWARD HIS 'MOVEMENT FORWARD FOR YEARS TO COME'.

A Conservative friend sent me this information from a Rightwing site which was far less condemnatory than the L.A. Times is above in that link, which stunned me big time.  The L.A. Times (as all of you know, it's highly leftist but it's been forced to go toward a decent center due to SO many cancellations over the last 10 years or so) includes this:


The community organizer who became president has launched a massive pre-reelection year campaign to assemble and train an army of new community organizers to carry Obama's "movement forward for years to come."  Strengthening "our democracy" presumably has something to do with reelecting the revered leader in 2012.   

and this:

The message about what it calls the "Summer Organizing Fellowship" adds: "Effective organizing doesn't happen in a vacuum. It takes commitment, time, and hard work to build a movement around a cause." It does not specify what the "cause" is, other than promoting Obama and his agenda.

Hold onto your hat for THIS last sentence in the article:
No mention of an Obama organizer flag, uniform -- or salute.

Yes, it sure does look like Obama's gearing up to have community organizers all over America doing his bidding; getting him elected in '12, carrying on his liberal policies for.........ever?  "Forwarding HIS MOVEMENT?"   Sounds like a big pile of 'movement' to me, believe me :-) (sorry, I couldn't resist)

NOW, check outd just 3 of the comments from liberal Los Angeles:

This scares the crap out of me. Our revered leader is acting more dangerous to our republic with each passing day.    

What does this mean exactly? Briefing people on how to collect extra welfare and food stamps? Hiding illegals from the feds? Using taxpayer money to kill babies? Facilitating voter fraud? Striving for the unattainable socialist utopia that can never and has never worked anytime in human history?

Just wondering...   
Great, more Marxists.

Yes, my lefty commenters will pull the writer apart because it's more comfortable than addressing the point of the post but please TRY to address yourselves to the FACT that the L.A. Times printed this.  TRY.

z

Policemen and the public

I've had reason to spend some time with policemen lately.  NO, I haven't been arrested (!), I've attended the funeral and a cop-sponsored and prepared picnic lunch for a policeman who I wrote about recently, an American hero in my eyes.  He worked the late shift for more years than he had to because he liked taking sandwiches to the homeless, feeding stray cats by the hundreds, and paying for dog groomers for homeless peoples' dogs...all on his nickle.   He shared a few things with someone I know who relayed them to me and I wanted to share them with you.   I can't tell you what district they're from but I can say it's the L.A. area and that I don't think this is unique to Los Angeles.

There is the situation where cops have to cuff criminals and the criminal then screams he's been hurt by the cuffs or something in the arrest.  That cop has to take the perp to an ER and wait there until he's been seen.   Cops are then witness to ER employees slipping lawyer's business cards to the criminals who fake injury at their arrest.  Meanwhile, the cops sit there knowing this perp will either get rich or get off.....arresting can't be easy when a criminal is on drugs or just trying hard to get away and won't calm down and they do get a bruise here or there, so's the cop! But, the cop can't call a lawyer!  But the perps are taught how to do it.


Another pretty shocking fact is that the cops are fired on every single night during their shifts.....in the air, at the car, whatever..........they have guns shot at them all the time and nobody discusses this in the city council or the media.   I don't know how they don't get and remain so bitter they literally cannot "protect and serve".  They have wives and children at home, get shot at, take criminals into ERs because of the rules and waste hours sitting there because the law says they must and then they have to witness ER employees doing their best to help the perp?     And so many of us are so hard on cops, aren't we.   As if all of them are monsters in metal who can't get hurt, whose families don't worry, as if they're making $200K a year to take the abuse?

Funny, there was a sign I saw on the median of the street leading to the funeral that day.  It said:

TIMES CHANGE.........VALUES DON'T

Times sure have changed;  we used to have respect for those who risk their lives to save ours.   Values?    They shouldn't change, but it sure seems like they have.  Yes, I KNOW some cops screw up, I know some of us have been arrested and didn't like it.  No one's saying cops are perfect.  I'm posting this to show another side and to relay some pretty horrid truths we should all know.......something we should all keep in mind the next time we see a cop.  

z

Did Political Correctness kill the 4 Americans?

Did a form of Political Correctness kill the four Americans on the yacht in Somali waters?  HERE is one account, HERE is another.......
The first account gives one a slightly sickening feeling that Associated Press finds us to blame in some way.  The Agence France Presse account does not. There are other stories which tell of this tragedy but none of them really jive as details are still forthcoming.

I can't imagine 3 AMERICAN WARSHIPS could trail a yacht being hounded by Somali hijackers and this was the best we can do.   My question is this;  has a certain political correctness lost these people their very lives?  If American NAVY SHIPS can't squelch skinny little Somali terrorists in search of easy big money from the world Super Power, what's next?   Do the pirates board the yachts so they feel safe because we're afraid to hit while innocent people are on board?  Could we have been rougher?  Maybe not; read this from the first link above:


Reuters managed to get a pirate with some connection to the hijackers on the telephone:"Our colleagues called us this morning, that they were being attacked by a U.S. warship," a pirate who identified himself as Mohamud told Reuters. "The U.S. warship shot in the head two of my comrades who were on the deck of the yacht by the time they alerted us," Mohamud said. "This is the time we ordered the other comrades inside yacht to react -- kill the four Americans because there was no other alternative
"The killing of those four Americans and our comrades is a fair game that has started. Everybody will react if his life is in danger. We should not agree to be killed and let the hostages be freed," a pirate called Hussein told Reuters from Hobyo, another Somali coastal pirate haven. -- then our line got cut."

These people are driven and they know just what they're doing.  Quite some comments above...this is "a fair game that has started"?   REALLY?  They start this game, they get some of their own killed, and they whine that they should be able to react (kill) because THEIR LIVES ARE IN DANGER?  Who put them in danger?   And, by the way, there are 'coastal pirate havens'.......can't we make them less haven-esque with ONE American warship's firing power?

Think that might stop them?  What do you think about this whole thing and political correctness?  Is America afraid to hit hard because of world opinion...?  Or it's just not nice to hurt poor Somalis?  WHAT?
z

PLEASE watch the video below and check this out, too!

HERE is a little adjunct to the post below.  Please make sure you read the final paragraph in which the writer tries to make it look like "FOX's RIVAL CNN" gets just as much flack from Conservatives!  I loved that part!

Hitler, Hypocrisy and Hyperbole...compliments of the LEFT

Robt Gibbs: "Imagine just a few years ago had somebody walked around with images of HITLER?"  Don't look now, Robert, but your side did just that."  How ironic...the video below shows more of what blogger Joe rightly called "the hyperbole factory" when he gave me this link....I'll just call it "liberal hypocrisy again...."

Why do they get away with it? And the slightest unseemly sign carried by some NUT in a sea of thousands of normal political signs carried at a Tea Party gets such negative, continual media play? WHEN will Americans wake up and realize this hypocrisy? I suppose the huge viewer numbers at FOX are an indication that they're starting to wake up....and maybe November 2010 showed a little of that, but how can leftists like Eugene Robinson and Bill Maher even look at themselves in the mirror? WOW
z

Governor Walker....hang in there

Governor Walker -

Please continue to hang in there in spite of the defamatory and malicious rhetoric directed at you from the "main stream media" and the partisan left which are both threatened by your good efforts to protect your state and its citizens from the tyranny of unregulated unionism.

The nation is watching Wisconsin and you will emerge a champion of traditional American virtue should you hold fast.

God Bless,
MGM
Anderson, Indiana USA

Here is Governor Walker's email address for you to encourage him! 
govgeneral@wisconsin.gov

Thanks, MGM....good going.

z

President's Day....a cautionary tale?

Once upon a time, there was a country called America.  In this exceptional country, years ago, the children learned about its constitution, learned songs which celebrated the great land they lived in, and were proud to recite a pledge of allegiance to this country's flag every morning in school. Children learned about the founding fathers, the presidents, and women who contributed to this country's greatness .  They learned that these men and women were intelligent and worked hard in creating a country which its people could be proud of and which would stand as a beacon for those immigrants wanting to share in its dream, when people wanted to be AMERICANS.  In those days, the immigrants came in legally, never thinking of sneaking into this great country because they had integrity and pride and wanted to contribute, not detract from this country they knew would give them opportunities they could not have dreamed of in their own lands.  America was a great reality for some and a hopeful dream to others.

The children in that America learned about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and most of the other presidents, and even knew the dates during which they served.  They learned to admire these men and some of the children even hoped they would grow up and be like them. 

Then, something happened.  Learning about the presidents and saying the pledge and studying the constitution became old fashioned.   Teachers argued that memorization was a waste of time and who cared what dates people served, anyway?  The pledge became a thing of the past because there might be children from other countries there and their sensitivities were more important than that of the vast majority of American children.  All that children in America did for years and years now became not only old fashioned but deplorable to some who lived in this land.  Suddenly, children knew President's Day was a day off from school, but they weren't quite sure to which presidents they owed this stroke of luck. They wondered if two presidents might have been born on that same Monday but weren't sure which ones.  To be honest, by this time, the children weren't sure what a president did.  They heard people arguing about them and screaming at each other on television about which was better but they didn't know if that mattered or why those adults had to get so angry.  And it seemed to them, from TV, that only Democrat presidents were good, but that's really all they knew.


This country called America didn't do too well after that.  These children who didn't know anything about presidents or the constitution or much else about the country started wondering what exactly America WAS after all.  Why would anybody fight for it?  Why be proud of it?  Why put its interest first?  Some even got into college and wondered why we had been so great and wasn't it time to give another country the chance to be a world power, but when people asked those kids which other country they might suggest, they couldn't think of one. Didn't some other country have great people who founded it and greater people still who continued that drive to be the best, to help other lands through amazing generosity, to be a beacon to those who hoped to come from lands lacking opportunity?  No.  Odd, but they couldn't think of one. Maybe they were living in the most exceptional country in the world, maybe they did have great opportunity, maybe it was worth fighting for.......could that BE?   And, just maybe, those presidents were on to something?

Is it silly to suggest the fact that we celebrate President's Day without names mentioned is problematic to this country?   Is it a huge stretch to think our children not knowing which presidents got them a day off is metaphorical for something bigger, far, far worse? 
I'm not sure.  I hope not.

What do you think?

Happy ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND GEORGE WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAYS DAY.  Please only read the rest of you have time..........mostly, I'd like to hear your opinions of my thoughts above.  Thanks!  Z

No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us, WE ARE AWESOME !!! OUR Lives are LIVING PROOF !!!    To Those of   Us  Born   1925 - 1970  : ~~~~~~~~~  TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE  1930s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s!! First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank  while they were pregnant.    They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.    Then, after that trauma, we were  put to sleep on our tummies  in baby cribs covered  with bright colored lead-based paints.    We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets,  and, when we rode our bikes,  we had baseball caps,  not helmets, on our heads.   As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.. Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.    We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight. WHY?    Because we were always outside playing...that's why!    We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.  No one was able to reach us all day.  --And, we were OKAY..    We would spend hours building  our go-carts out of scraps  and then ride them down the hill,  only to find out we forgot the brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were  no video games, no 150 channels on cable,  no video movies or DVDs,  no surround-sound or CDs,  no cell phones,  no personal computers,  no Internet and no chat rooms.     WE HAD FRIENDS  and we went outside and found  them!    We fell out of trees, got cut,  broke bones and teeth,  and there were no lawsuits  from those accidents.. We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.       We ate worms, and mud pies  made from dirt, and  the worms did not live in us forever.    We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.  Little League had tryouts  and not everyone made the team.  Those who didn't had to learn  to deal with disappointment.     The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!   These generations have produced some of the best   risk-takers,  problem solvers and inventors ever. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.  You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives  for our own good.  And WE LEARNED TO LOVE OUR COUNTRY!!! (Z)   While you are at it, forward it to your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.  Thanks, commenter-pal Impertinent, for sending this to me just in time to include it in my Monday blog post above.............it was a perfect fit, in my opinion. God bless America. Oh, I forgot:   George Washington (1732-1799) Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)  :-) z

Sunday Faith Blog

This might be only the second joke I've featured on my Sunday Faith Blog...I couldn't resist this one.....Enjoy!: This is a hoot, but I suspect the minister didn't appreciate it. A minister was completing a temperance sermon. With great emphasis he said, 'If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river.'  With even greater emphasis he said, 'And if I had All the wine in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river.' And then finally, shaking his fist in the air, he Said, 'And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river.' Sermon complete, he sat down..  The song leader stood very cautiously and announced With a smile, nearly laughing, 'For our closing song, Let us sing Hymn #365, 'Shall We Gather at the River.'  Smile, life is too short not to!

See you at the river.

  "You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound." Psalms 4:8   Thanks, God!

z

Somali pirates have us again........

So NOW WHAT?  Read THIS!  Americans sailed to Somalia again and have been hijacked.  Shouldn't our government tell civilians to STAY AWAY from that region?  Will we have to pay to get them safe?  I mean, I want them SAFE, but how much can we do of this?
Mr Z had strong feelings about people who do dare-devil things and then expect to be saved when the rescuers could lose their lives trying to save them!   I think he'd feel the same way about these Americans who decided to sail into Somalia, saying on their website:  "Djibouti is a big refueling stop. I have NO idea what will happen in these ports, but perhaps we'll do some local touring,"    Maybe they hadn't KNOWN about the pirates there?

What do you think?  I'm not heartless, I really feel for these people, but.............why SOMALIA? 
z

Bill Cosby didn't say this...but check it out for my point below:

This is an email that's circulating....incorrectly attributed to Bill Cosby....check out the comment I add below:   

I  HAVE DECIDED TO BECOME A WRITE-IN CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT IN THE YEAR 2012.

HERE IS MY PLATFORM: 
(1). Any use of the phrase: 'Press 1 for English'  is immediately BANNED!!!    English  is  the official language;   speak it or wait outside of our borders until you can. 
(2). We will immediately go into a two year isolationist  attitude in order to straighten out the greedy big business posture in this country. America will allow NO imports,  and we'll do no exports.     We will use the 'Wal-Mart 's policy,
'If  we  ain't got it, you don't need it.' We'll make it here and sell it here! 
(3). When imports are allowed, there will be a 100% import tax on it coming in here. 
(4). All retired military personnel will be required to man one of the many observation towers located on the southern border of the United States  (six month tour). They will be under strict orders not  to fire on  SOUTH BOUND  aliens. 
(5). Social Security will immediately return to its original state.   If you didn't put nuttin in, you AIN'T getting nuttin out.  Neither the President nor any other politician will be able to touch it. 
(6). Welfare. -- Checks will be handed out on Fridays, at the end of the 40 hour school week, the successful completion of a urinalysis test for drugs, and passing grades.
 
(7). Professional Athletes -- Steroids?  The FIRST time you check positive you're banned from sports ... for life. 
(8). Crime -- We will adopt the Turkish method,  i.e.,  the  first time you steal,  you lose your right hand.  There is no more 'life sentences'.  If convicted of murder, you will be put to death by the same method you chose for the victim you killed: gun, knife, strangulation,  etc. 
(9). One export of ours will be allowed: wheat; because the world needs to eat.  However, a bushel of wheat will be the EXACT price of a barrel of oil. 
(10).  All foreign aid, using American taxpayer money, will immediately cease and the saved money will help to pay off the national debt and, ultimately, lower taxes.  When disasters occur around the world, we'll ask The American People if they want to donate to a disaster fund, and each citizen can make the decision as to whether, or not, it's a worthy cause. 
(11). The Pledge of Allegiance will  be said EVERY day at school and  every day in CONGRESS. 

(12). The National Anthem  will  be played at all appropriate ceremonies,  sporting events,  outings, etc. 
My apology is offered if I've stepped on anyone's toes .... nevertheless..... 

GOD BLESS AMERICA !

 

Sincerely,  Bill Cosby  

 

Snopes.com says this is  "Incorrectly Attributed" and I wish I could copy/paste but their site doesn't allow it for some reason so HERE is their take on it but let me just add that they say in only slightly different words that "Bill Cosby would never say anything so 'REACTIONARY'....and George Carlin's also had this attributed to him and we all know he has better politics than that, too"   Check it out............you really need to see the Snopes.com bias for yourself.  Oh, yes, they frequently are right in their FALSE or TRUE attributions but the bias, if it even subtly reflects badly on a liberal, is so obvious it'll honestly make you laugh as they bill themselves as having no agenda for the sake of the validity of the site, considering its goals..........."REACTIONARY"  ya, right........to say the Pledge, have the National Anthem played, etc.   Obviously, I don't agree with Number 8 about cutting peoples' hands off for stealing but, hey, it 's kept people from stealing in some Arab countries!   z

z

Hating America 101

Is there another country which actually teaches its children to hate it?   I can't think of one.  I know Germans were raised explicitly not to be proud of Germany because of the NAZI horrors, but I can't think of another whole society whose teachers are ruining a country from within for teaching kids about the worst of their country before they learn the best.

When I was in elementary school, we learned how wonderful America is!  We learned patriotic songs, we said the Pledge of Allegiance, we celebrated Washington and Lincoln's birthdays, we didn't have them lumped into President's Day.  There was no choice but to love America when I was little, you couldn't help but soak in the best when I was in school.  I wonder how many kids today could tell you which presidents are celebrated on President's Day?

Today, our children learn about slavery at very young ages, while still in elementary school.   Our blogger friend Susannah commented recently that she went to her child's school on MLK Day only to hear very young children lamenting about how awful America is for having had slaves!  Very near to my home, there's an elementary school which gave extra credit to elementary-aged children who marched against Bush and the Iraq War.  "America hated Blacks and made them slaves!" "America shouldn't go to war and that Bush shouldn't be president!"  What horrible things for young, impressionable minds to be poisoned with.   We heard about slavery in junior or senior high school, our teachers would never have dreamed of talking against a president or a war in public school when all opinions were then valued and respected.  We never ever knew the politics of our teachers and that's the way it should be.

Can a country SURVIVE its children hating their country and then going to university to really seal the deal?  What do you think?  (Please, this is not about keeping truth from children, so let's not go there in our comments...I believe my post is clear on that point and also why I chose to write it, thanks)
z

Wrestle with this story and tell me what you think!

Please READ THIS about an Iowan who won't wrestle a girl even for a State wrestling match he had his heart on winning. 
Sometimes I let you good people tell me what you think before I weigh in on information I post but I have to say I ADMIRE THIS KID SO MUCH I COULD PINCH HIS CHEEKS but he's a wrestler so I have to restrain myself because you know how teenaged boys like older women to pinch their cheeks :-)  I'll just say "Joel Northrup, you impress me"

So, what do you think about this?  Should teenaged girls be in the same wrestling competition with boys?

z

Ann Coulter on the Middle East

I never use Coulter's columns here but this made me burst into laughter several times and I hated to think you might miss it!   Enjoy!:

The Middle East is on fire again, and crazy Muslims with funny names aren't helping things -- Mahmoud, ElBaradei, al-Banna, Barack...

The major new development is that NOW liberals want to get rid of a dictator in the Middle East! Where were they when we were taking out the guy with the rape rooms?

Remember? The one who had gassed his own people, invaded his neighbors and was desperately seeking weapons of mass destruction? The guy who emerged from a spider hole looking like Charlie Sheen after a three-day bender?

Liberals couldn't have been less interested in removing Saddam Hussein and building a democracy in Iraq. So it's really adorable seeing them get all choked up about democracy now. Say, as long as liberals are all gung-ho about getting rid of out-of-touch, overbearing dictators, how about we start with Janet Napolitano?

Why did they want to keep Saddam Hussein in power again? Yes, that's right -- because he didn't have stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Their big argument was that Saddam was five long years away from developing them.

By my calculations, that means as of March 2008, Israel would have been gone and Saddam would have been in total control of the Middle East.

Thanks, liberals!

But they were shocked by Mubarak. Liberals angrily cited the high unemployment rate in Egypt as a proof that Mubarak was a beast who must step down. Did they, by any chance, see the January employment numbers for the United States? The only employment sectors showing any growth at all are medical marijuana cashiers, Hollywood sober-living coaches and "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" understudies filling in for maimed cast members.

Are we one jobs report away from liberals rioting in the street?

Mubarak supported U.S. policy, used his military to fight Muslim extremists and recognized Israel's right to exist. Or as the left calls it, three strikes and you're out.

Obama was so rough on the Egyptian leader, the Saudis reportedly had to ask him not to humiliate Mubarak. (You know, like Chinese President Hu did to Obama.) In fact, Mubarak may be the only despot Obama didn't bow to.

You'd think Mubarak and Obama would be natural allies. Mubarak lives in Egypt; Obama created a pyramid scheme known as ObamaCare. To win Obama's support, maybe Mubarak should have dropped the whole "president" thing and called himself "czar." Obama seems to like czars.

Or he should have announced that Egypt was going to blow $500 billion on a high-speed bullet train nobody wanted.

You know another country where Obama wasn't interested in democracy? (I mean, besides the U.S. when it comes to health care reform?) That's right -- Iran.

Iran is ideal for democracy: It has a young, highly educated, pro-Western population, and happens to be led by a messianic, Holocaust-denying lunatic.

Liberals say: Why upset that apple cart? Much better to support tumult and riots against our allies than our sworn enemies.

When peaceful Iranian students were protesting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's stolen election in 2009, we didn't hear a peep out of Obama. The students had good reason to believe the election had been rigged. In some pro-Ahmadinejad districts, turnout was more than 100 percent.

Wait, no, I'm sorry -- that was Al Franken's election to the U.S. Senate from Minnesota. But there was also plenty of vote-stealing in Ahmadinejad's election.

When it came to Iran, however, the flame of democracy didn't burn so brightly in liberal hearts. Even when the Iranian protester, Neda, was shot dead while standing peacefully on a street in Tehran, Obama responded by ... going out for an ice cream cone.

But a mob of Egyptians start decapitating mummies, and Obama was on the horn telling Mubarak he had to leave. Obama didn't acknowledge Neda's existence, but the moment Egyptians started rioting, Obama said, "We hear your voices."

He can hear their voices? He couldn't hear the voices of the tea partiers, and they were protesting on the streets of Washington, D.C.

But as long as Obama can hear the voices of protesters in Cairo, why doesn't he ask them what they think about ObamaCare? Maybe the Egyptians can change his mind.

The fact that liberals support democracy in Egypt, but not in Iraq or Iran, can mean only one thing: Democracy in Egypt will be bad for the United States and its allies. (As long as we're on the subject, liberals also opposed democracy in Russia, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and all the Soviet satellite states, China, Vietnam, North Korea, Cuba, Grenada, Nicaragua and Minnesota.)

Democrats are all for meddling in other countries –- but only provided a change of regime will harm U.S. national security interests.

Time and again, Democrats' fecklessness has emboldened America's enemies and terrified its allies, which I believe was the actual slogan of the State Department under Jimmy Carter: "Emboldening America's enemies, and terrifying her allies, since 1976."

For 50 years, Democrats have harbored traitors, lost wars, lost continents to communism, hobnobbed with the nation's enemies, attacked America's allies, and counseled retreat and surrender. Or as they call it, "foreign policy."

As Joe McCarthy once said, if liberals were merely stupid, the laws of probability would dictate that at least some of their decisions would serve America's interests. z: SO what do you think?     Obviously, she stretches things a little but geeeez......she's mostly RIGHT on and so funny!   Thanks to Pris for sending it to me.
z

Israel, Iran and the Suez Canal

So, you've all heard that Israel is saying Iran's sending two ships through the Suez Canal today....HERE is the information.  Here's a bit from the link:

"Israel's foreign minister claimed Wednesday that Iran is about to send two warships through the Suez Canal for the first time in years, calling it a "provocation," but he offered no evidence. The Egyptian authority that runs the canal denied it."    

I got to wondering if Israel's saying this could avoid Iraq's actually doing it and that's why they're making this claim?    We know Israel has excellent spy capabilities, they could be certain this ship movement is happening, so could calling it before it happens dissuade Iran for concern over public response?  Does Iran give a damn?  Here's a really funny comment by Joe Lieberman;


"We expect the international community to act with haste and determination against the Iranian provocations that are intended to destabilize the situation in the region."  IS HE KIDDING?  

Do you think the international community will suddenly come out in support of ISRAEL?  REALLY?

So, pals;  what happens next?  And, if the Iranians do send those ships through the Canal, will Israel strike in self-defense?    It's a perfect set-up by Iran....they go through and get attacked, it's Israel's fault for attacking Iranian ships....they go through and don't get attacked but do attack Israel............and then what?

z

LOVE...for country, for a brother, for a sister...for you

Have Kleenex ready:

The day after Valentine's Day, please watch the video above, something which involves many kinds of love, love like some people can't imagine.  Please remember this video next time you hear any story pushing for the New York City mosque.
Below is yet another video to watch if you can do it, it's even tougher  You won't forget this if you try:


Thanks, Imp.
z

LOVE.......a question for you

What is your definition of LOVE?   Come on, men, please chime in, too.   AND, if you'd like to include what you're getting your loved one on this day, that would be fun to read!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone who makes GeeeZ work so well.....I love you all for your visits, your comments, your support especially when I lost Mr. Z and then was so sick these last 2 months........I may not define this love for you as the same as I had for Mr. Z (certainly not) or the love I have for my mother or siblings or personal friends or my home or the beach down Wilshire Boulevard, but it is a love.   I promise.

The Gerbera Daisy is for Mr. Z   Happy Valentine's Day, honey.

Z

Sunday Faith Blog

Sometimes, when I've posted about the remarkable information of David Barton, he's been insulted by commenters.........Please, listen to the truth, the facts, this is an amazing history of Christianity in America and how the forefathers certainly planned it to be part of America's future......would that it were. Please pray that happens.  We want a free and peaceful America, we want Israel protected.........God bless America.

"The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever."  Isaiah 32:17

z

Some smiles are in order....or watch the NEWS and be depressed!

A lawyer boarded an airplane in New Orleans with a box of frozen crabs and asked a blonde flight attendent to take care of them for him.

She took the box and promised to put it in the crew's refrigerator.  He advised her that he was holding her personally responsible for them staying frozen, mentioning in a very haughty manner that he was a lawyer, and proceeded to rant at her about what would happen if she let them thaw out.

Needless to say, she was annoyed by his behavior.  Shortly before landing in New York, she used the intercom to announce to the entire cabin, "Would the lawyer who gave me the crabs in New Orleans please raise your hand."

Not one hand went up .... so she took them home and ate them.

Two lessons here:

1. Lawyers aren't as smart as they think they are.

2. Blondes aren't as dumb as some folk think.

Yes, I know..maybe it's in slightly bad taste but I hope you enjoyed it...blame it on my dear buddy Heidianne at Big Girl Pants blog :-)  

Here's another good one:

That one's from another dear buddy, Robert...or Big Bubba!!
happy Saturday! z