Let's Finally Get It Right

Work: a small four letter word which could come in the form of a noun, or perhaps a verb, depending on how it may be utilized. With unemployment at a high level and climbing at what seems to be a steady pace, work becomes a valued commodity. Many people who have been employed for many years are falling upon hard times as victims of downsizing companies; a direct result of a riddled economy. Bearing this in mind, I'm reminded that I too, as well as many fellow workers have been involuntarily tossed into this mix. Considering all of the unemployed, we should be thankful that we have jobs.

The frightening thing is the old adage that history repeats itself, hopefully this won't apply to our current dilemma. Perhaps this could develop itself into a rebirth of some kind where we learn to slow down and appreciate what we have and discover living within our means. Credit put us in this mess, with bankers loaning out money that didn't exist to people who couldn't afford to pay it back! The stimulus package scares me, considering the fact that I will never live long enough to see it disappear, we can only hope that our children and their children can finally get it right.

The Beauty Of Silence

Did you ever just plain long for, let alone treasure the beauty of silence? Just plain old beautiful silence. Nothing special like mad at you so I'll give you the silent treatment type of thing. Silence benefits us in many ways in life, and that's what I'm finally leading up to. A headline on this morning's MSNBC.com page reads something like this 'Pats Trade No Reason To Get So Little'. Now I can think of about three readers of this post who now know exactly where I'm going with this. Remember, this is all opinion, but I think I know my team well enough to say that there probably still is a full load in the New England Patriots' bag of tricks. As usual, we're probably yet again witnessing Bellichick's silence paying off. Ahhhhhhhhh .........don't you just love the silence?

Attention All Pats Fans

Tom Brady's recovery must be pretty much on schedule, and I don't even need a video to prove it! Checking the news feeds today, I see that the three time Super Bowl champ married his supermodel girlfriend Giselle in Los Angeles in a small private church service. Now that the leader of the Patriot Nation has decided to settle down, it's time to get back to business, and we all know what that is, don't we?

Phelps Dumped, Yet Again

Another dumping of Olympic all time gold medal winner Michael Phelps today when he was removed from two Canadian events. Phelps was scheduled to deliver motivational speeches in Calgary and in Vancouver, but his agency was notified that because of his marijuana use he was being cancelled from the programs. Now I myself am not in any way an advocate of the use of marijuana or, for that matter, any illegal substance of any kind. However, at some point he has to be, if I may use the word, re-recognized for his magnificent accomplishments, and society has to move on. I realize that his actions are of a tarnishing nature and that he should have stopped to consider the consequences of his actions. But he, like any of us, is a human being, thus the lack of the perfect label. It's up to Michael to learn from his errors, and incorporating his experiences in his speeches could possibly result in motivating younger people to make better decisions in life. Everyone deserves a second chance, even Michael Phelps!

Complain, Complain, Complain

I have to tell you all that the attached video pretty much spells it all out. Seems that our current generation is getting unhappier the easier life is becoming. The clip is from the Conan O'Brien Show and we can all relate to the guest's words, and he is quite entertaining, as well. Just click on the link at the bottom of this post to see the vid.

http://barefootmeg.multiply.com/video/item/56

This That & The Other!

1. I heard today that the hospital in California where the octuplets were born has notified the mother that they may not release the children to her custody. Whether or not the hospital is acting on their own or in coordination with the local Child Services agency remains to be seen. In either case it's pretty apparent that they obviously have no faith in the mother's abilities to raise her small army. For the moment, I tend to agree with the hospital. This woman has been , and continues ti live in some sort of fantasy world!
2. Despite his fairly high ratings haven taken a hit of late, President Obama's stimulus package continues to draw doubts from more Americans. I'm predicting that if the package is a failure, then he will be a one term president. Unfortunately, as president, he can only make roughly 50% of the people happy; it comes with the territory.
3. And if that's not enough to shake your tree, I'll go out on another limb and say that the state of the economy is here to stay for a long long time. People just have to realize the seriousness and magnitude of what we're going through right now. While some have lost small fortunes, making it up will be next to impossible because I see lifestyles in this country coming to a drastic change. In most cases, we'll probably have no choice but to adjust our standards of living.
4. Don't look now folks, but Mexico is having a little problem of its' own with drug lords and cartels. Apparently many people have died as a result of hostilities as a result of lawlessness in the country. This is where we come in, as all of this is taking place in the northern part of Mexico very close to the US border areas of Texas and Arizona. Should this become more serious over time, it could become our problem. I'm quite certain the Obama Administration is keeping a close eye on this one.

I'm Back!

It's late, I'm sleepy' I'm excited, I'm bushed, I'm slowing down, I'm hitting the hay, but I'm back!!!

Communicating From Exile

I sit here tonight sort of in exile, if you call having lost your PC as such. I managed to borrow my son's new notebook and take care of the bare minimum necessities (fantasy league, all e-mail accounts, and such). Today on the way into work, I scouted out a new PC and if all goes as planned, I should be adopting it tomorrow and should be up and running later in the day.

Closure In Sight

Today a surprise announcement by the Washington, DC police in the case of the 2001 murder of Chandra Levy, the intern for former representative Gary Condit. Levy went jogging in DC's Rock Creek Park and disappeared in 2001. Her remains were found in the park a year later. Condit stated all along that despite having had an affair with Levy, he had nothing to do with her disappearance. Today's announcement stated that an arrest warrant was being issued to a Salvadoran immigrant, who is currently serving 10 years for attacking two women in the same park where Levy had disappeared. It charges the inmate with Levy's murder, which he is known to have confessed to while interacting with another inmate. The Chandra Levy disappearance was the top story of its' time until the 911 attacks put it on the back burners.

Face The Facts About Facebook

An MSNBC headline caught my eye this morning, so much so that I wound up reading the Newsweek article. It lists the seven lies we tell ourselves about Facebook. Commonly referred to as 'social networking', it has become increasingly difficult to find anyone, other than yours truly, who doesn't partake in this. And while the younger generation appears to have cornered the market on this addiction, I have run into older folks, and even companies (Fox News, for one) who partake as well. I found the article to be fascinating and somewhat revealing with regard to how a subscriber's persona is truly perceived by others. It even goes so far as to refer to some Facebook readers as just plain being nosy, intending to find out whatever they can about anyone who would befriend them. I've included the link to the article below.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/185641

Labor Of Love

Residents of Seal Cove, Newfoundland found it difficult to sleep the last few nights, courtesy of the three crying dolphins who were trapped in the ice at Seal Cove Harbor. The three mammals became stuck in an oval shaped hole in the ice and were not able to find a way out back to the open ocean. The town's mayor attempted to secure an ice breaker, but none were available. So, on Thursday night, fisherman with their trawler, managed to cut a path out of the harbor resulting in two of the dolphins swimming away freely. The third one was too exhausted to go on his own, so a 17 year old boy, dressed in a wet suit, jumped into the frigid water. The remaining 8 foot mammal wrapped his fins around the boy, who guided him through the path to the open waters, where he swam away. What a great story.

Don't Blame The Chimp

The horrific incident in Connecticut involving an out of control chimpanzee mauling a woman and leaving her near death raises a few questions. It all begins with the chimp being kept by a woman as a house pet for many years. But the animal's incarceration wasn't really the kind that the average pet would be subjected to. Not only did the chimp sleep in the owner's bed, but he was subjected to the owner getting too close emotionally. She often fed him lavish meals such as lobster and fillet mignon at candlelight dinners. The relationship grew to more than the average owner/pet relationship. One day last week, the owner's friend dropped by for a visit and the chimpanzee wound up turning on the friend in what experts termed as a jealous like rage.

My first question would address the wild animal's inevitable need to be removed for the owner's as well as the public safety. Was this woman's mind so one sided that she never even gave this consideration? These creatures are accustomed to living in the wild and adapting to the human environment is not natural to them. As far as the closeness is concerned, we all adapt a kind of bond to pets, domesticated ones that is, but they don't usually turn on us the way this chimp did. No matter how we may look at this incident, the ultimate blame should not be placed on the chimpanzee.

This Stuff Fascinates Me

A French battleship that went to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea during WWI, was found this week. The Danton was found to be in remarkable condition after its sinking at the hands of a German submarine in 1917. Click on the link below to see the wreck of the Danton.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/also_in_the_news/7900205.stm

When Humor Goes Too Far

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in humor that we don't always notice how damaging it can really be. Take the case of a cartoon that appeared in a recent edition of the New York Post. The cartoon depicts two police officers with guns drawn looking down at the body of a bullet riddled chimpanzee. At this point, one of the officers states 'They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill'

Now I, like many people in this world, love good humor. In fact I don't even mind a little spice added, but this one went a little overboard. The implication is quite clear, and not very humorous at that! I may not have been an Obama supporter, but he is my president, and I just flat out don't find any humor in this. It's not a matter of infatuation with the individual, but the respect for the office.

*CORRECTION*

I should have done my homework on the WWII Memorial thing before posting, but I guess my anger took over my reasoning. Below I am attaching a link that outlines the false rumor and e-mail concerning an FDR misquote on the memorial from the last post. My apologies.

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/w/wwiimemorial.htm