Footnotes and Commentary

A Catholic Delima

2012-02-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

I’ve got a problem with the Catholic Church. I was broughtup Catholic.

I practiced faithfully for many years, but then I changed as lifeexperience, reason, and rule irrationality mixed with my intellect andcognitive common sense.

I no longer practice the liturgy of my birth, but I embracea Catholic spirituality in my heart and it includes much of what I was taughtin the honing of my faith.

My practice now, however, does not include the centuries olddogma of men nor does it adhere to the dictates of rules that are no longervalid.

Liturgical Rome is not my conscience. My sacred spirit isthe only arbitrator of what is right for me.

Having said that you now know where I stand.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at first thought itmight be OK for the revised birth control policy offered by President Obama tobe accepted. Then they decided it was unacceptable.

They are acting like flip flopping political candidates.

By the way, Viagra is OK and is acceptable within thechurch, but birth control for women is not.

Some things do not compute.

Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Somethoughts on Valentines Day.

Could we possibly be victims of amanufactured holiday, perpetrated by the the greeting card, florists and candycompanies?

Itwould be nice if all the expressions of affection bandied about today were tolast more than just today. Imagine having less argument and more communication,more love and less selfishness everyday.

Valentines day wasn't started by themarketing merchants of hype, they only take advantage of our sentimentality.The early Christian church actually proclaimed this event to counter a paganfestival that had a little too much celebration and debauchery for the asceticbeliefs of that time.

Why the church leaders chose Valentine tobe their champion of love, no one knows for sure.

Historically it may be astrange choice. The Valentine, who became the saint and surrogate iconic lover forthis day was actually beheaded for his beliefs and became a martyr.

Maybe it is appropriate to name the dayafter him...people do tend to loose their heads when in love.

Contraceptives and Controversy

2012-02-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Theuproar and passionate controversy over the Obama administration's healthcarerequirement for all employers to provide birth control to their employeesincluding those institutions owned and operated by the Catholic Church was aneedless confrontation.

Somebodydidn't think it through. Much of the contentious and political banter couldhave been avoided.

Thecompromise solution offered by President Obama on Friday may not be enough forsome although a number of former, non-clergy critics of the originalrequirement, have signed off on the compromise.

Conservativesand big government haters will use the faux pas as political fodder all the wayto November. It is another selected issue that takes talk time away from moreimportant considerations like the economy and jobs and reducing debt.

Perhapsall government proposals ought to follow the rules of the Iroquois Nation. Manyof our founding fathers thought they were on the right track and studied theirgoverning process.

Onlywomen could declare war.

Onlywomen could elect a chief

Onlywomen could depose a chief.

And forevery important decision the elders would meet in council to discuss theramifications and consequence of any decision they might make seven generationsahead.

Can youimagine how that would boggle Washington?

Watching, Listening and Reading

2012-02-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

The story headlinein the New York Times yesterday was, “Youths are watching, but less often onTV.”

The story suggeststhat viewers 12 to 34 are spending less time in front of the television set andmore time watching the same programs, but on the internet, mobile phones andother non television video outlets.

I fear that lazy watching of just video by the young requiresless intellect and effort than reading and therein is their diminishment.

If we just watch we are un-informed. If we just listen we are un-informedand if we just read we are un-informed. To me it is the combination of allthree that allows the mind to understand the complexities of life and findcreative solutions to the seemingly unsolvable.

The past as it is embodies in the memory and experience of older generations is the repository of processand reading is one of its graces.

Listening is another grace as is eloquence and elegance. They areall cloaked in the gown of experience, but in the sharing of these two graces,the elders, the seniors, must be the evidence of them by example. Eloquencemust be learned through the ear and elegance through the eye.

The young will always need the elder for context. The tribalstory-tellers of the past have proven that.

Creativity needs all of the graces and all participants from theyoungest to the oldest. It is then that the seasoned clay of imagination bringsa youthful idea into form where it can be glazed by experience.

Politicians Get A Life

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

Republicans SeePolitics in Chrysler Super Bowl Ad

By JEREMY W. PETERS and JIM RUTENBERG

Published: February 6, 2012

The most talked-aboutadvertisement of the Super Bowl did not have a barely clothedsupermodel, a cute puppy or a smart-aleck baby. It was a cinematic, two-minutespot featuring Clint Eastwood, an icon of American brawn, likening Chrysler’s comeback to the country’s owneconomic revival.

And within 12 hours ofairing, it became one of the loudest flashpoints yet in the early re-electioncampaign ofPresident Obama, providing a reminder, as ifone were needed, that in today’s polarized political climate even a traditionas routine as a football championship can be thrust into a partisan light.

I’ve been a republican in the past, I may be one now. I havebeen a Democrat in the past and I may be one now. I have been an independent in the past and I may be one now. I am a disappointed citizen now and I will remain one until politicians stop bickering and become aware that compromise is the only solution to partisen passions.

Pundants like Rush (what's his name) need to lighten-up. He thinks Clint Eastwood was dupped and the ad was an endosement of President Obama. So did Karl Rove, a Bush advisor. Rove said he was offended. Good Grief! Get a life Karl.

In this case…I did not see politics in the Chrysler Ad. Granted I am not an expert. I am an average citizen who is concerned about prejudice opinion and partisen rhetoric.

This whole political and pundant partisanship has got to stop.Republicans get a life. Democrats you too. Pundants do your research. All of you are blinded by yourpassions and harming the country. STOP IT!

EGYPT'S IDIOCY

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

“U.S.vows to cut $1.5B in aid to Egypt over trials

By Oren Dorell, USA TODAY

CAIRO – Members of Egypt'snewly elected government refused to back off from charges that 19 Americans andseveral other foreigners are aiding violent protests and will be tried. TheUnited States called it an illegitimate crackdown on foreign groups known asnon-governmental organization or NGO’s.

Altogether, 43 people face trials over illegally operating inEgypt and receiving funds from abroad without permission from Egyptianauthorities for their human rights and pro-democracy efforts. Egypt chargesthat they fund and support anti-government protests. The groups deny that.”

Note by me: ( RGS )

Why are we giving 1.5BILLION AMERICAN TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO EGYPT ANYWAY?

1.5 BILLION A YEAR ??????? What is the matter with us. Let’s gorescue the 43 people, keep our money and forget about Egypt. I, for one, amtired of all foreign aid money going to solidify friendships that would not bethere, but for the money. IT IS TIME WE TOOK CARE OF HOME FIRST.

Flipping The Bird

2012-02-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

Some thoughts on flipping the bird.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have flipped the birdany number of times in my life and found it offered limited solace to mymomentary frustration. It did, however, communicate a singular sentiment towardanother as a private gesture.

That said the televised action on Sunday’s Super Bowlhalf-time show with Madonna was inexcusable.

British rapper M.I.A. flipped the third finger bird during asong sequence with Madonna. The NBC delay folks didn’t catch it and yesterdayoffered an apology to anyone who was offended.

M.I.A’s birth name is Mathangi Arulpragasam. She is of Tamilorigin of Sri Lanka. She has sometalent, but no manners. She should to be banned from American televisionperformances.

The 36 year old ought to know better when and where one cango off script to display a personal feeling.

To me she diminishes not only herself, but also theperformances of her on stage colleagues. She may have had a rough young life,but it is no excuse for arrogance and crudeness.

Go home “Maya” come back when you learn how to behave.

Need I Say More?

2012-02-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Giants win the Super Bowl!

Solitude

2012-02-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

Maine - a friend's photo

Upon the beach he stands alone,

But lonely he cannot abide.

There is a space between the two,

Where mind decides the distance‘tween.

You cannot see where his starestarts

Or where it stops within histhought.

The distance is a grain of sand

Or all the oceans of his heart.

There is a clue beyond the Sun

Behind his image on the sand.

Hold your focus a little more

And you will know that all areONE.

Bowl XLVI

2012-02-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

Somelimerick thoughts on the Superbowl.

Withpride the fans come to the bowl,

thinkingtheir team will control

the ballon the ground

in theair all around

to theother, the bell will toll.

The bowlis the ultimate game,

Teamsgetting their fortune and fame.

Bowlforty and six

Withpasses and tricks

Willnext year the teams be the same?

Thegiants from Gotham do fight

The Patsof Boston of might.

Thetemperatures fine

Insideat this time

As Bradyand Manning excite

ComeMonday with hindsight and woes

and healingof scrimmaging blows.

No mediahype

Anoccasional snipe

Thelosers, their bragging, will stow.

In thislife of struggle and fears,

In thistime of laughter and tears.

We needthis big game,

To helpus stay sane

TheHoosiers will send us the cheers.

Theseason soon over and done.

The fansalways caring who won.

The gameis the thing

Byhoping to bring,

A timeof competitive fun.

Congressional Coincidence?

2012-02-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

Is there anything wrong with this?

This week forty-three United States Senate Republicansintroduced a bill to circumvent the President Obama veto of the Keystone tarsands pipeline.

Thirty-five of these 43 senators backing this proposal havereceived PAC monies from the big backers of the pipeline. Backers likeExxon-Mobile, TransCanada Pipelines, Shell Oil and the U.S. chamber of Commerceand more.

Is there anything wrong with this?

Gee, what a coincidence these republican Senators back this legislationand have received some money from the companies and trade associations lobbyingfor the pipeline.

What a coincidence!

Ex Post Facto?

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

I started out writing this post with the thought of peaceand tranquility on my mind. Then listening to the radio I heard the fact thatthe Senate cleared the way for a vote on an insider-trading ban for the membersand the staffs of congress.

“Cleared the way” I’ve got news for Congress and the rest ofthe takers in government. There is already a law against insider trading.Apparently there are some loopholes that congressional members and staff thathad special knowledge because of legislation upon which they were working couldcircumvent the law and make a few insider bucks.

No wonder congress has an abysmal approval rating.

I keep wondering if we the electorate are lazy or ignorant?I think it’s both. We have, for far too long, let congress operate without theover-site of the people. The elected members of congress and much of theirstaff see themselves as special and in many cases above the laws and the rulesand regulations that the rest of us must follow.

Each one of us, by ourselves, can do nothing but stand upfor what is right and shout into the density of darkness, but collectively weare powerful and we can change the corruption of the system. It begins withchanging our congressmen and women and letting all representatives know weexpect them to serve for the greater good of us and not create a career forthemselves.

The Sound of Silence

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

I want to share with you some places that may not be of your choice or current experience. They are based solely on my interests and to me they are profound.

These are places of extreme quiet, where silence and nothing are one and you cannot tell them apart. Places where only nature speaks and her sound is deafening when no other audible intrusion is near.

One place is on a silent river. Where portions neither ripple nor descend through noisy cataracts, but carry liquid volumes in the stillness of deep flows and where it is far enough away from man’s concoctions that the only thing you think you hear are your own thoughts, but they aren’t.

If you’ve never been to such a place and find yourself in it, there will come wonderment, a revelation, a spiritual attunement, a surprise appreciation of the empathetic knowledge that only stillness engenders in a singular moment of time.

The first time I found such silence was on the Green River in Utah as I rafted in a quiet eddy pool and found myself in involuntary prayer with nature whose sacristy I entered and then sustained by the choice of benevolent thought.

The second time was at night alone at the edge of a lake in the Allagash wilderness of Maine. The stars have a noticeable brilliance when civilization is far away. They also have a sound that man rarely hears for we occupy a space of things and doing in the Cosmos of life.

I know that science has learned much from the music of the spheres in the vast cacophony of the heavens. I know that religions promote silence to reach the unreachable. I know that the frigid stillness of winter creates a cocoon where sound will not enter because of density.

What I didn’t know until I experienced it was the joy that silence gives the listener and that robust laughter needs no sound and God needs no dogma. The thoughts you think are yours, but aren’t, are God’s. He talks to all of us, as us, in the stillness of life.

Headlines and More

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

Here it is Friday again and already I am throwing my handsup in the air over some of the news headlines.

Governor Romney citing the fact that his Father was born inMexico, but left there at the age of five. His parents were missionaries. Thecurrent Romney does not speak Spanish, but would love to parlay the distantconnection to the Latino voters in Florida as votes.

A government report shows that federal workers owe 3.4BILLION in back taxes. You must be kidding! We pay them with our tax dollarsand they don’t pay their fair share of taxes.

The Associated Press reports in the Washington PostNewspaper:

“The data showed that 467 employees of theHouse of Representatives, or about 4.2 percent of the workforce, owed more than$8.5 million. In the Senate, 217 employees, or about 3 percent of theworkforce, owed $2.13 million.

Obama’s staff was not immune, either, with 36people in Obama’s executive office of nearly 1,800 workers — about 2 percent —owing the government $833,970 in back taxes.”

The IRS found thatmore than 279 thousand federal employees and retirees own 3.4 billion in backincome taxes as of September 30, 2010.

Come on…..Congressyou want something to do this year as you bicker and bilk. Do something aboutthis.

I have to believethat this kind of thing has been going on for decades and continues to followthe old admonition, “do as I say, not as I do.”

When are we asparticipating and controlling citizens of this Republic going to stand up forwhat is right, what is fair, and what is necessary in order for our democracyto return to compromise, courtesy and common sense?

When?

Arizona Political Heat

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

It seems to me that politics no longer makes strangebedfellows, although it might in the caves of controversy within the Washingtonenvironment.

It now makes confrontation appropriate whenever you get thechance.

Take for example the meeting on the Phoenix Airport tarmacwhen Arizona governor Jan Brewer greeted or better yet, confronted PresidentObama with a letter and a lecture.

It may have turned into a testy greeting, there is no way toknow except by reading the body language.

I don’t think this picture is a finger point that says,“Gee, you are doing a great job.”

Supposedly it’s an intense gesture that says have you readmy book, “Scorpions for Breakfast?” In it, she criticizes Obama for opposingher law on immigration.

Here is what Christi Parson of the Los Angeles Times saysin her report on the encounter.

“A White House officialoffered this take on the encounter: "The governor handed the president aletter and said she was inviting him to meet with her. The president said he'dbe glad to meet with her again, but did note that after their last meeting, acordial discussion in the Oval Office, the governor inaccurately described themeeting in her book."

Thick skin is in now, more than ever before, required in the Washington arena of hopefulideas. In Roman times they just threw the inimical to the lions. Today thepolitical fangs drip with uncompromising memberships in both parties.

What it alsopoints up to me is that the United States of America may be an amalgum of culturesunder the aegis of a collective one, but it is also a partisan dichotomy ofpolitical beliefs that can only be resolved with courtesy, discussion,compromise and the political dominator of seeking only what is the greater good for America.

We see it!Why can’t the guys and gals we choose to represent us?

State of the Union

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

As I write this post I'm listening to President Obama's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress.

I listened to a number of good ideas from the President that any American would and should embrace with compromise, yet I see little or no reaction from the republicans in applause or facial acknowledgements.

It is another reason why I am angry and frustrated with contentious members of congress who care only for their party to win the next presidential election rather than solving our serious problems and building a new America.

I also acknowledge that Democrats in their myopic view of sustaining power also share responsiblity for the current situation we are in.What does that tell us?

We need to work together, not for the benefit of individual party platforms, but for the greater good of America.

I have listened to state of the union addresses from Presidents since JFK. Some of the issues have stayed the same. Jobs, housing, the economy, taxes, health care, and social security.I don't know if any of those issues will ever be resolved, I hope so, but congress needs to try; partisan passions, if they continue, will stop any compromise and that needs to STOP.

Having ranted and raved, my friends, I still personally choose to move from within my spirit and know that all is as it should be and we, collectively, create our world as it is and we are responsibility for its condition.

A Winter Scene

2012-01-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

Winter Falls
©2009 Rolland G. Smith

It looks like nature’s raven hair.
Illusion from a flowing falls
Creates a snowy cameo
Long ‘fore a warming spring enthralls.

A moment frozen – wintertime -
And held within a fleeting thought.
When framed by icy clifts and woods

The soul of winter's stream is caught.

Cold Outside, Warm Inside

2012-01-23T21:44:00.001-05:00

Yesterday morning the temperature was six degrees. Later I had a fire going and felt safe after a cold winter’s night.

The warmth of a long ago sun spreadsinto my room as a log fire dissolves its way to ash giving back the heat and light of many seasons' growth. Fluid flames dance in a flickering grace of form and orange light.

Heat is the result. Light a soft byproduct.A few feet away was the cold. It is a stinging cold with only a window glass to hold it back. It’s double glass, a bulwark of silica that another temperature and time turned into a transparent glazing of clarity and protection.

I grew up in old houses with single panes of flawed glass. Frost would decorate the panes into a translucent crystal of art, but not now. Modern houses are too tight for nature’s cryogenic beauty to seep in and paint the panes with a cameo of cold. Too bad! How many kids today will miss the vision of feathered frost on the inside of a windowpane where they can scratch their own design into the thin sheet of ice crystals.

Just beyond my outer pane is an astringent cold that if you stepped outside without protection it would burn with negative degrees, blister the skin, force he eyes to tears and tighten the inner nose when breath is necessary.

It’s an arctic tight. Not a tight of clothes and layers, but a tightness of breath. But I’m inside and warm and I feel safe. Proximity to potential danger seems to do that.

Other dangers will evoke a similar feeling. High winds, flooding, blizzards, and even summer heat can harm, but if we feel safe, protected while near the danger, then the rest of the feeling and fear basks in the comfort of illusion for safety is only as good as the protection that holds back the danger.

The glass in the window keeps me feeling safe and sustains my sense of comfort. The cold on the other side sets a tension for possible attack, but cannot penetrate the timid barrier of wood and glass. It is the knowing fierceness of potential danger that keeps me in the fort of comfort.

Whys

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Some things don't make any sense to me.

Why can Congress vote billions of dollars to go to war where they know our young citizens die, but will only agrees to half the money to repair the Washington Monument where our young citizens are inspired?

Why is it that news organizations will interview the ex-wives or wife of a presidential hopeful whose initial separation was probably acrimonious. What did they expect an endorsement? Why has she been silent for so long?

Why do all candidates distort the facts to fit their positions? Whatever happened to truth?

If you feel like it add some other whys in the comment section of this blog.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

Akio's Post about my note re: Fukushima.

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

http://akiomatsumura.com/2012/01/a-response-from-former-cbs-anchor-rolland-smith.html

Thoughts From The Cold

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

It’s January and it’s cold where I live. It should be cold, it’s January, but we have had some warmish days since winter began and I am thankful for it.

I wonder what that means, if anything. I don’t think the planet climatology is changing beyond a normal cycle, but then again I’ve watched the weather statistics for a number of years and it does seem that things are different. I do acknowledge that we as a polluting species need to curb our trash.

Could it be global warming? A cyclical pattern we amateurs don’t understand? A adulteration in climate? It doesn’t matter, the cold is part and parcel of the season no matter what its cause and if we don’t like it, we can move.

That said, life goes on and on and on. A very simplistic observation, but one that embraces the truth of living and a truth we oft forget because we are a controlling species and life is not something we can even remotely control. We can only control how we think or feel about the episodes of life, but true control is left to the spiritual and physical consequence of our actions.

Life goes on in the minutia of things. It is the way it should be.

People say things, we react. We say things, people react. Unfortunately when we react either as a person, a people, a community or a country our reaction engenders the other’s reaction and conflicts and cultural separations often result that are adversarial in nature.

There is only one way out of this dilemma. Gandhi said it decades ago. A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes."

We need to change our minds to change our lives.

Need We Say More!

2012-01-17T06:00:00.001-05:00

We need to do two things between now and next November. We need to find new candidates for the jobs of those in Congress that we are going to vote out of office. And we need to vote out of office any incumbant who is currently in Congress because individually and collectively they have failed to do their job.

Here's a new poll from the Washington Post Newspaper and ABC News. It's not much different from the poll last fall.

To wit:

"A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that a record 84 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing, with almost two-thirds saying they “disapprove strongly.” Just 13 percent of Americans approve of how things are going after the 112th Congress’s first year of action, solidifying an unprecedented level of public disgust that has both sides worried about their positions less than 10 months before voters decide their fates."

I can help all Congressman and women who are up for relection to
decide their November fates.

LOOK FOR WORK!

Martin Luther King

2012-01-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

I've posted this poem before and I will again on the occasion of celebrating MLK's birthday.

I had a dream the other night

and Martin Luther King was there.

He spoke in tones befit the wise

and asked me if I’d share,

the news of how his dream came out,

since he had been away.

I told him times had changed somewhat,

but the dream was still a dream

and somewhere in these many years

was progress, or so it seemed.

Tell me, he said, what has happened,

since he had been away.

We’ve legislated out the hate,

I said, but laws can’t touch the mind,

if bias reeks within the heart

there cannot be a human - kind.

It’s still not true, he said,

for he had been away.

And then he said, where he is now,

there is no ONE color bright,

not black or white, yellow or brown.

There is only a loving light.

It’s the truth I lived, and live,

he said, as he went away.

Peeing on the Dead

2012-01-13T06:00:00.005-05:00

I did not see the video, nor do I want to see it. It is a You Tube posting that reportedly shows four U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters.

The Marine Corps is investigating and has said this action is not consistent with Marine Corp values.

First of all I understand the dispassion some combatants can feel against an enemy they have killed. These Marines may have seen their buddies blown apart by IED’s or in a combative firefight and they were in no mood to pay respects or acknowledge it to the enemy dead.

Granted Peeing on a corpse is ignorance at it’s best, but then again intellectual diplomacy is not part of the Marine Corp training nor should it be. Each Marine is trained to be a killing unit, not a diplomat over the enemy dead.

The Taliban are more egregious in their treatment of prisoners or of enemy dead. Cutting off the head of an enemy is not a civilized action in today’s world, if it ever was in any time or ethic.

War is hell as the saying goes. War is filled with atrocities, indignities and insults on both sides. It is what war is. You have two choices. Get over it or don’t go to war.

What is not appropriate on either side is to second guess the actions of those who were there, by those who were not there or by those who have never been in battle who cannot know the power of fearful and then euphoric survival nor of survivals lingering pain of loss when comrades in arms no longer live.

The idiocy of war is that you can kill the enemy with impunity, but then you must respect their remains.

Who thought that one up?

Warren Buffett calls a bluff

2012-01-12T06:00:00.002-05:00

I have praised and touted Warren Buffett a number of times in this blog. The latest issue of Time Magazine has an extensive article on Buffett and why he is bullish on America.

I recommend you read it.

Here’s an excerpt from the Time website.

“Warren Buffett is ready to call Republicans’ tax bluff. Last fall, Senator Mitch McConnell said that if Buffett was feeling “guilty” about paying too little in taxes, he should “send in a check.” The jab was in response to Buffett’s August 2011 New York Times op-ed, which made hay of the fact that our tax system is so unbalanced that Buffett (worth about $45 billion) pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. Senator John Thune promptly introduced the “Buffett Rule Act,” an option on tax forms that would allow the rich to donate more in taxes to help pay down the national debt. It was, as Buffett told me for this week’s TIME cover story, “A tax policy only a Republican could come up with.”

Still, he’s willing to take them up on it. “It restores my faith in human nature to think that there are people who have been around Washington all this time and are not yet so cynical as to think that [the deficit] can’t be solved by voluntary contributions,” he says with a chuckle. So, Buffett has pledged to match one for one all such voluntary contributions made by Republican members of Congress. “And, I’ll even go three for one for McConnell.” That could be quite a bill if McConnell takes the challenge; after all, the Senator is worth at least $10 million. As Buffett put it to me: “I’m not worried.”

NYC Subways

2012-01-11T06:00:00.003-05:00

I spent a lot of time in the subway of New York City yesterday. I had to get to several places that were far apart. Uptown, downtown, and cross-town, it’s doable, but it takes some time and planning if you don’t do this kind of thing every day and I don’t.

Observations from the New York Subway.

Most people sit silently, staring into the abyss of three feet across the subway car. They don’t look out the windows for their stops; they feel the stops by internal numbers.

Many listen to their portable electronics and are mesmerized by their music so the staring has no significance of deep thought and no distance of focus.

Some people are seemingly crazy or at least act that way. They talk to themselves and shout at nothing. Others read a book, sleep or dose, write in a journal or eat some fast food morsel to assuage a hunger. I’ve seen everything from apples to sushi to beef stew consumed on a short subway run along with beagles, candy bars, hamburgers and covered containers of booze.

Occasionally musicians pop in and out of a subway car, sing a few bars and hold a hat out for a few coins. Tourists always reach into their pockets or purse and put something in the hat. We need tourists. It helps the troubadour economy.

The immune New Yorkers ignore the entertainment. It’s a shame, for sometimes these musicians are pretty good and deserve a shekel of two.

Today, a little girl probably around four years old, stood next to me and held on to a carriage her Father was pushing. Her other hand hung onto the chrome post on the train car. This little one had a smile that dissolved dilemma and melted angst. She held on loosely and seemingly, at her young age, knew how to balance the motion of the train to her tiny body. She never lost her footing and faltered.

I was ready just in case she did. She was comfortable and so was I because of her presence.

Tit for Tat and Die

2012-01-10T06:00:00.002-05:00

A story in the news tells about the arrest of Sami Osmakac, a 25 year old from the former Yugoslavia. He’s been charged with an alleged bomb plot to attack crowded locations in the Tampa, Florida area.

Every time I try to embrace a moderate view of the world and believe we can all get along something like this happens somewhere and I have to force myself to think in unconditional terms so I don’t sink into the abyss of mistrust.

I had a similar problem in understanding a decade or more ago, in another religious conflict, when Irish Catholics were bombing Irish Protestants and vice-versa.

I have the same issue with Israelis killing Palestinians and Palestinians killing Israelis.

And how about the Muslim Shiites killing and bombing Sunni sect of the same religion and vice versa.

The sadness and the idiocy of it all is that once it starts it becomes a tit for tat, an eye for an eye, a hate for a hate. Parents perpetuate it by teaching their children to hate others who believe differently because the other did something horrible. It goes back and forth and innocents die.

Just how ignorant are we as a human race? I don’t mean it to be a rhetorical question, but it is.

Radical believers think that killing solves the problem. Rational believers know that it does not.

We all know there is only one God and there are many prophets whose interpretative dogma of the one God becomes sacred to those who choose to follow that discipline.

Zealotry in any configuration is the sin against the sacredness of life and a denial of the God that is part of each of us.

Religious Power

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

What is different in the world today, and reminiscent to the times centuries ago, is that in some religions and belief systems, priests, rabbis, clerics, shamans, gurus and imams are now seeking the power that used to be reserved for chiefs, premiers, presidents, kings, queens, tyrants, dictators and despots.

In many ways religious leaders are seeking a return to a time when the spiritual hierarchy yielded great power.

The religious leaders of Iran, Iraq, Al Qaeda, fundamentalists in Egypt, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Ethiopia are grabbing and holding power to say nothing of the quiet usurpations by spiritual keepers of fringe Christianity in Rome, Constantinople, England and the strict evangelicals of the world.

Centuries ago one or more of the other of these has maintained control of the population or at least dominant influence over the populace through fear of eternal damnation and or the terror of force through the exercise of power.

We, in this United States amalgam of tolerant beliefs, must be very careful that we do not relinquish our powerful and secular constitutional franchise to the vocal intolerants of religious fervor.

It has happened in the Middle East with militant and controlling clergy with blind followers and it could happen in America if the silent and the tolerant majority are not vigilant and participatory in the electoral process.

Being conservative or evangelical is fine, so is being liberal or religious in structure, but if any fringe element succeeds through the ballot box with the result that all must believe and behave their way we could have a serious problem. It may lead our global, yet distinctly American democratic society into a national crusade of contensious idiocy.

Headlines

2012-01-06T06:00:00.002-05:00

There is something very wrong with our governmental systems if the headlines continue like I’ve been reading recently. Actually there is something wrong with our system whether or not I look at any headlines.

Anyway here are the headlines in question.

“Prosecutors say LA arson suspect raged at Americans.”

Where is the individual morality with which we are all born that dictates a balance between choice and responsibility? This young man was angry at the judicial system that might deport his Mother because she didn’t pay a bill for breast enhancement in Germany.

In his rage he causes millions of dollars in damages against innocent souls. He’s a German citizen. Why waste our tax dollars on him. Deport him to Germany along with his mother.

“Obama Picks Nominee Fight”.

President Obama had to appoint an agency head when Congress was in recession because Congress won’t act on his appointments when they are in session. This is not the country or government that I remember when I was a kid. What a way to run a country. I still go back to the Buffett suggestion. (See the December 29^th post.)

“Bachman Quits, But Perry Stay in”.

Jeeese! She should have quit a long time ago and so should have Perry. Why is it the male species takes longer to assuage their individual egos and come to reason than it does for the female? I think I know the answer, but please don’t remind me.

I think we ought to give everyone a child timeout to think about their choices and actions and embrace the appropriate shame. We are all tired of the bickering, the contention, the partisan hatred and the untruths of campaign rhetoric.

Fukushima

2012-01-05T06:00:00.002-05:00

I have followed global visionary Akio Matsumura's posts on the Fukushima nuclear tsunami disaster. They are informative and contagious in their importance. Radiation contamination is not only a local, regional and a national tragedy for Japan it also has an exponential global effect.

I am disappointed that the global media has not latched onto this tragedy and problem in ways that would pressure governments, businesses and scientists to work under the aegis of truth in order to find innovative solutions to bring Fukushima under control.

Blame and false assurances are not important and are destructive at this stage.

Complete cooperation in the sharing of knowledge is the only way Fukushima can be safely neutralized thereby preventing further tragedy to the people of Japan and subsequently to the world.

I urge every journalist everywhere to look at the facts and the prognostications of continuing danger from the experts and bring their stories to the attention of the world’s people. Together we can solve this problem; alone we have our heads in the proverbial sand.

It is time for the nuclear ostriches to acknowledge all facts and dangers and open themselves to global cooperation otherwise we are all in peril.

Thank you Akio for your good work.

Friendship

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

A friend asked me the other day if I had ever written anything on friendship.

Probably one of the hardest things to do is to put friendship into words.

It is especially hard to describe a friendship seasoned with time.

I looked and some of my past writings and I have written about friendship through the years, but something else popped up in my memory with what Gail Vetter Levin had written many years ago for me and some friends of mine. I altered it and added to it, but it truly expresses a thought or two about friendship and friendships.

"Friendships travel and weather. They suffer and survive. They change and transfer. All things said get forgiven and forgotten and remembered, but have withstood the task of understanding.

Friendships have moments of old laughter where the walls smile long after conversation has left the room.

Friendships taste each other’s tears and fears.

The rarest of friends have all the goods on each other and know all the good in each other. Maybe they even know the bad, but long ago they ceased to notice."

I think it was Eleanor Roosevelt who said, “Many people walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave a footprint in your heart.”

All of this fits perfectly today for this is my best friend and my 48th wedding anniversary.

Damn, who wouldda thunk it.

A Touch Of Nature

2012-01-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

On New Years Day…looking out from my home’s high set of five stories above a meadow and a small pond an immateur eagle was perched on a strong branch. It was probably around two years old.

He or she had not yet attained the full white-feathered breast or head and a yellow beak. I would say the bird was about two feet tall, maybe more, with a wide girth and strong talons.

It lingered on its chosen perch for more than an hour and I was able to focus very strong tri-pod binoculars on his or her majesty. I could see the blinking of the eyes and the strong swiveling head gaze for pray in the meadow.

The eagle was sitting high in a tree branch in my meadow, but it was eye level for me and my binoculars because of the height of my home on a ridge.

I live not too far, by flight, from the Hudson River in New York State.

The Hudson estuary is known for having several families of Bald Eagles nesting along its banks. Perhaps this young one is from that area.

I also live just seconds from another river that feeds the Hudson River farther North. I have seen highflying Eagles there once in awhile and maybe this one is from that clan.

It was a wonderful experience of nature for me for the time the bird decided to stay. I stayed with the binoculars for the duration.

Shakespeare was right. “One touch of nature makes the whole worlds kin.”

Truths

2012-01-02T06:00:00.001-05:00

If you look for it you will find profound truths in a lot of places.

Gary Shapiro is President and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association. He’s written a piece entitled, “Has Politics Trumped Truth?” for Forbes.

He makes solid and perfect points.

To wit:

“America used to be good a facts – real good. Baseball, replete with hard statistics, was our favorite sport, and we used its hard data to argue who was the best at it. Our reliance on facts also attracted the world’s best scientists, engineers, doctors and researchers. We studied and reported and arrived at mutually agreed on facts. And we knew that when our government made statements and our trusted network news anchors reported them, you could take these facts to the bank.

But we changed. Facts and data have become less relevant, especially in Washington. Americans now choose their news more on the opinions of the news providers than on the fact gathering skills and objectivity of the reporters. We no longer want to be challenged by facts; we want to be reassured in our biases.”

BRAVO! Mr. Shapiro

Pespective!

2011-12-30T06:00:00.002-05:00

At year’s end it is nice to put things into perspective. Most times it will tame the passion of arrogance.

These are the rings of and the planet Saturn and little ol’ us.

Have a happy and aware New Year celebration.

A Buffett Suggestion

2011-12-29T06:00:00.001-05:00

I don't know if the following email I received is accurately attributed to Warren Buffett. It doesn't matter. The suggestions are solid, smart, and should be implimented. Perhaps you will pass it on as I am through this blog.

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:

             "I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just
         pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more
         than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible
         for re-election.

         The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds)
         took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple!
         The people demanded it. That was in 1971 - before computers, e-mail,
         cell phones, etc.

         Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year
         or less to become the law of the land - all because of public pressure.

         Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to
         a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask
         each of those to do likewise.

         In three days, most people in The United States of America will
         have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed
         around.
     Congressional Reform Act of 2011
         1. No Tenure / No Pension.

         A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no
         pay when they're out of office.

         2.  Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social
          Security.

         All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the
         Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into
         the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the
         American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

         3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all
        Americans do.

        4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
         Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

        5. Congress loses their current health care system and
         participates in the same health care system as the American people.

         6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the
         American people.

        7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void
         effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this
         contract with Congressmen/women.

         Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in
         Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers
         envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their
         term(s), then go home and back to work.

Profound Wisdom

2011-12-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Some things you read in life are so powerful they must be shared. The following is one of them. I first read this a few years ago and every once in awhile it surfaces to the top of the internet email circuit.

I love it and I hope you do too.

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time” I said.

God smiled. “My time is eternity.”
“What questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered…
“That they get bored with childhood,
they rush to grow up, and then
long to be children again.”

“That they lose their health to make money…
and then lose their money to restore their health.”

“That by thinking anxiously about the future,
they forget the present,
such that they live in neither
the present nor the future.”

“That they live as if they will never die,
and die as though they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine
and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked…
“As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons
you want your children to learn?”

“To learn they cannot make anyone
love them. All they can do
is let themselves be loved.”

“To learn that it is not good
to compare themselves to others.”

“To learn to forgive
by practicing forgiveness.”

“To learn that it only takes a few seconds
to open profound wounds in those they love,
and it can take many years to heal them.”

“To learn that a rich person
is not one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least.”

“To learn that there are people
who love them dearly,
but simply have not yet learned
how to express or show their feelings.”

“To learn that two people can
look at the same thing
and see it differently.”

“To learn that it is not enough that they
forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.”

“Thank you for your time,” I said humbly.
“Is there anything else
you would like your children to know?”

God smiled and said,
“Just know that I am here… always.”

-author unknown

Touch Hands

2011-12-27T06:00:00.002-05:00

I liked the fact I could post an audio file for the "Night Before Christmas" so here is another poetic proundity that works this time of year on our emotions and expectation.

I sent it to my friend and colleague Carl of inclusion in a radio program.

I hope you like it.

You will have to go to my website www.rollandgsmith.com to hear it. Blogger will not let me post an audio file. It will let me post a video file. Go figure.

Thanks,

RGS

What Now?

2011-12-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Some thoughts today on the upcoming new year.

Beginnings always have an expectation.

What happens next; where do we go from here.

There is an old saying that says we attract to us what we fear the most. If that's true, then it is time to acknowledge that within each of us is an immense creative energy that can find a way out of the fear, the sadness, the despair, the negative conditions for which we often blame others.

Perhaps it is time we see ourselves as creators. Not only the creator of things, but also the creator of attitudes and personal conditions.

We constrict our creative self by placing limits. We inadvertently deny those in need by believing security is having more. Sometimes we delude those we say we love by only loving ourselves through them and not honoring their choice and sacred self.

It is time to listen to the life force of our hearts. It lets us hear the trees, the oceans, the plants and animals and strangers when they speak to us.

That life force is unconditional love, which translates to respect, courtesy and kindness.

It has never been tried on a mass scale.

It seems to me we have nothing to lose.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! May the light of All That Is be evident in our hearts and actions.

Twas The Night Before Christmas

2011-12-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

Hi Folks,

Blogger will not let me download an audio file, so please for this production piece of the Night Before Christmas please go to my website.

www.rollandgsmith.com.

It works there.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Rolland

Away Again at Christmas

2011-12-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

There are many folks today who cannot for one reason or another be home for Christmas. Those serving in the military are certainly the one's who we think about this time of year. We have empathy with the emptiness their families are experiencing.

This is for all who are away from home this Christmas. It is a poem I wrote entitled, "Away Again."

I am away this Christmas,

but I will send my heart

to ring each bell you hear

when reason keeps us part.

I can’t be with you now

to sit there by the fire

and hold your hand in mine

and fill my heart’s desire.

When you awake my love

You’ll feel my Christmas touch.

Know it is my message -

I love you very much.

I can’t be home this year

to hear the season sing

nor be with you to smile

at every little thing.

I can’t be home this Christmas

to decorate the tree

So hang a stocking too

from heart at hearth for me?

When morning comes at dawn,

with every breath I take

I'll hear your sweetened laugh

to take away my ache.

I can’t be home this Christmas,

if only it weren’t so.

Hear my special Christmas wish -

never again to go.

Christmas Thoughts

2011-12-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

When we were kids we didn't give much thought on all the meanings and nuances of the holiday season.

We thought only of presents, not only the ones we would receive, but also of the ones we bought or made for our parents.

Somewhere in time, in the growing and maturing process, we transition to a different feeling and appreciation for Christmas. Now it’s the importance of family close by and friends visiting, and children's excitement and memories.

Laughter and holiday gatherings take on an empathic resonance. They seem to amplify the emptiness and sadness some choose to embrace during this festive time of year. It's one thing to feel the righteousness of loss of loved ones, long or just departed, and it’s another to wallow in the self-pity of our own creations blaming others for who or what we are. If you don't like who or what you are, change it by intent; its truth is in its simplicity.

There is only one thing we all are equally, other than created, it is our free will choice to be loving and all the actions that mean loving: giving, helping, listening, teaching, honoring and thanking.

Be only love for that is what you are is an immutable law of the universe and a predominant teaching of the man-child whose birth we celebrate on Christmas.

The Rude Elderly

2011-12-20T06:00:00.001-05:00

Ah…the old, the elderly, the crochety, the rude, the myopic, the negative things I hope all of us will not be as we get older, but I know some of us will be cantankerous and rude in our old age.

That being said, I experienced, in the last few days, the rudeness of my generation and maybe those in the generation a touch older than mine. I therefore feel free to criticize my generation and the generation that is just beyond me.

Some elderly think they are entitled to just about everything; Driving slow in the left lane, being rude to wait staff and intolerant of and stern to little children. Some elderly seem to hate loud noises, teenagers in general and the dress styles of the young.

I don’t know why some of us older folks find joy in the laughter and antics of youth and others are the curmudgeons of old age. Perhaps reason, patience, tolerance and courtesy leave the mind set of some folks when nimbleness, dexterity and smooth skin pass from the body.

Some elderly are filled with joy, wisdom and appreciation of living a long life. Others are angry at being old and they choose to take it out on everyone.

Iraq War Costs

2011-12-19T06:00:00.005-05:00

I’m wondering about the Iraq war on this count down to Christmas. What a dichotomy of thought in this alleged time of seasonal peace.

We. The United States military and whatever other undisclosed agencies have now left or are leaving the country. Well, the military forces have all but left, but the other guys and gals may linger in the intelligence sphere for quite some time.

Anyway, the closing ceremony of leaving last week was not one of cooperation or appreciation.

Iraq’s President Jalal Talabni and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki did not show for the departure ceremony. Their names were on two chairs at the event, but the invitation was apparently ignored.

What does that say?

It says that war and death and treasure are never make lasting friends.

What has the nearly nine year war achieved other than multi-national pain, sacrafice and money?

1. Saddam Hussein is gone.

2. Over 100-thoussand Iraqi civilians are dead.

3. Untold millions displaced from their homes.

4. The countries infrastructure destroyed.

5. Patchy electricity and water sources are still evident.

6. Whatever social fabric there was is gone.

7. 1.5 million American soldiers are now vets of that war.

8. 4,487 Americans were killed.

9. Thousands upon thousands of Americans were left with missing limbs and psychological scars.

The cost to us: One trillion and counting.

This is George W. Bush’s and Dick Chaney’s legacy to and for the operation dubbed, Iraqi Freedom.

My thoughts are not a political statement, they are a practical acknowledgement of the idiocy of war and unbridled and unconstitutional political power.

Howard Stern

2011-12-16T06:00:00.002-05:00

I was going to try to keep the next several posts in the holiday mood, but when I heard last night that Howard Stern has been selected as a judge on “America’s Got Talent” I had to go off track.

I have never listened to Howard Stern. My kids did where they were in High School many years ago and back then I was a successful news anchor in New York and Stern would occasionally say on the air that he wondered if I did some obnoxious thing to my female co-anchor at the time.

At the time a lot of kids in their teenage years would listen to Howard on the radio and then chide my kids about his remarks. I choose to ignore it and so did my kids for the most part, but it was still there, lingering in their minds. Stern was a shock jock and teenagers love that stuff.

Go ahead several years and I was working at a different television station and Howard was taping in new television show at that station. We would see each other in the cafeteria and occasionally have a brief conversation.

At that time he would say on his show, “ I don’t think Rolland likes me” and he would continue with some crude remark.

It’s not true that I did not like Howard. It is true that I do not like what he says. I think it is prurient, scatogical and crude. It is not part of my nature and therefore in my likes.

But here’s my point. Based on his history and his penchant for the rude and crude is he even remotely qualified to judge talent? I think not.

The producers of the television program have sunk to the lowest denominator purely for the sake of ratings.

My suggestion is to boycott the show.

Christmas Poetry

2011-12-15T06:00:00.002-05:00

Some poetic thoughts for Christmas.

Christmas time surprises as it jumps out from the cold

To warm the late December days with frankincense and gold

It heralds in with music, in the silent of the night,

And when it wakes the child within my memories are all-bright.

Happy thoughts are set to play within the festive light

And brighten up the shortened days with friends who reunite.

Chums of old and pals of new, all wishing Christmas cheer,

With cedar sparks from glowing logs to warm the midnight clear.

It’s wrapping hearts in holly green and Rudolph red with bow

And standing ‘neath a hanging sprig of kissing mistletoe.

Dancing dreams of sugarplums and minted candy cane

Bring visions of a Christmas tree and a circling tooting train.

I harkin as the angels sing with distant family near

And I love to hear a child say the names of eight reindeer.

Patina thoughts of Christmas past and shiney ones of new

Remind me of the Magi three and a child named Jesu.

There’s jingle bells and icicles and packages to tie

With ribbons tight and wrappings bright of sleighs up in the sky,

There’s hugs galore and candy more and kids with favorite toys

And shirts and socks and building blocks for little girls and boys.

There’s cards and calls and carols and candles fill the room

And tins of sugar cookies shine by red poinsettia bloom.

Christmas time indeed surprises in a special wondrous way

In winter and forever it’s my favorite holiday.

Santa Origins

2011-12-14T06:00:00.001-05:00

Santa Claus has quite a history. An ancient Teutonic festival has a person called, "the old man of the woods", dancing around a burning log; The old man was characterized as have a red-nose and a white beard.

When Roman missionaries began to Christianize the lands to their north, the Teutonic festival blended with the celebration of Christmas. The old man of the woods got a new name and became "Kriss Kringle.

Enter Nicholas, a 4th century bishop, noted for his kindness and gifts. He became Saint Nicholas and in time that blended with Kriss Kringle. Eventually Dutch settlers brought this legend to the new world, but dialects distorted the Dutch name Sint Nicholas to Sinterclaas that in turn became Santa Claus.

It was a Washington Irving story in 1809 that probably helped the legend develop even further. He had a jolly Saint Nicholas, smoking a pipe, flying through the air in a wagon dropping presents down the chimneys.

Several years later, in 1822, Clement C. Moore, wrote the poem "The Night Before Christmas". The wagon became a sleigh and reindeer pulled it through the sky.

With a history like that, the guy has got to be real.

Christmas Folklore

2011-12-13T06:00:00.001-05:00

It's time to get into the Christmas spirit. For the next couple of weeks up until and maybe a little beyond Christmas and Hannakah and Kawanza I will be posting some thoughts on this festive time of year. Some of them I've gathered through the years and others will be new.

Today, Christmas Folklore.

In England, it is still common to hear someone say when they hear the rooster crow in the stillness of December nights, that the cock crows for Christmas. Legend has it that the crowing would scare off evil spirits from the holy season.

Other superstitions say that bees can sing at Christmas and sheep walk in procession in commemoration of the visit of the angel to the shepherds.

At one time in the German Alps it was believed that cattle had the gift of language on Christmas, but it was a sin for anyone to try to eavesdrop.

In Poland the story is told that on Christmas the heavens are opened and the scene of Jacob's ladder is re-enacted, but only the saints could see it.

In perhaps no other land is Christmas more celebrated that in Scandinavian countries. Peace and goodwill is the order of the season. Old quarrels are adjusted and feuds are forgotten. In each household family members place their shoes in a row. It symbolizes that during the year the family will live together in peace and harmony.

Let us think about the world's shoes and let us put them in a row this year.

Fox News

2011-12-12T06:00:00.003-05:00

A warning for Fox News...beware... there are liberals hiding everywhere. Or so they think.

Eric Bolling, the host of Fox’s Follow the Money program suggested the new Muppet Movie is a liberal agenda to influence kids.

I think I heard Charlie Brown say, “good grief!”

Fox News: They decide, they report. Nothing’s changed

Our War Dead

2011-12-09T06:00:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately there is an intellectual disconnect between some members of the United States Air Force and the dignity of treating our war dead with honor.

Here’s the story from the Washington Post:

“The Air Force dumped the incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops in a Virginia landfill, far more than the military had acknowledged, before halting the secretive practice three years ago, records show.

The landfill dumping was concealed from families who had authorized the military to dispose of the remains in a dignified and respectful manner, Air Force officials said. There are no plans, they said, to alert those families now.”

Shame on these men and woman and officers who allowed this desecration to take place. Shame on the Air Force for fostering a dispassionate climate that tacitly condoned such an action.

All of our war dead must have the honor in death that they carried into battle. It does not matter whether a piece of flesh can be identified to a specific warrior. It only matters that all remains are honored and buried and marked for further generations to acknowledge in tribute.

Weather Predictions

2011-12-08T06:00:00.002-05:00

It is one of those wonderful evenings where the rain continues to announce its presence on the roof and the temperatures fall into the thirties.

The weather folks think we might get several inches of snow by morning. I think not! Two to four is my prediction.

Actually I have experience in weather predictions. Two stories come to mind. Years ago when I was first starting out in my television career I was hired to do the weather in Fort Wayne, Indiana along with some other things.

I did not know a damn thing about the weather so I bought a small paperback book about “How to forecast the weather,” by Eric Sloan. It worked, for I had that job for a few months before somebody left and I was now the news anchor. My suspicion is that I was better at news reporting that I was as a weather forecaster.

But hey! It worked!

The other story concerns an instantaneous prayerful petition to the Almighty. I was with the late Cardinal Terrance Cooke of New York.

I was covering, in Rome, Italy, the funeral of Pope John Paul the First. I set up an interview with Cardinal Cooke at his official residence in Rome at North American College. It was pouring rain.

I asked his Eminence to join me in prayer. I said, “ Dear God, I need fifteen minutes of no rain to walk and talk with one of your guys in the garden. Amen.

Cardinal Cooke said, with a smile, I hope it works. Fifteen minutes later the clouds parted, the sun shone and we walked and talked in the garden.

When we finished it started to rain again. I looked at the Cardinal and said you see Your Eminence, “The power of prayer.”

He repsonded after a short pause, "No Rolland, it is the power of the press."

December 7th, 1941 Pearl Harbor

2011-12-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

There was a time, not too many years ago, that a friend of mine, a retired naval officer, then a successful businessman, wanted to talk to one of my sons about attending Annapolis.

My friend was a good man, a survivor of Pearl Harbor, but he had one flaw. He hated the Japanese and he took every opportunity in business, in public, and in private to say so.

I told him he could not talk to my son, unless he could let go of his hatred, for I didn’t want a seventeen year old, at that time, influenced by such an old festering hate.

When you hate you create a bond as powerful as love. The great teachings suggest that what you hate you attract to you. To love your enemies, does not mean approving of their actions, in means loving the part of them that is inherently good and then forgive. Not forget, but forgive.

My friend thought about our discussion for several months. One week he called to tell me whe was going to visit Japan. And he was going to stop at Pearl Harbor.

He asked if he could talk to my son. I said “yes”.

HBTM

2011-12-06T06:00:00.002-05:00

This is a special day for many folks around the globe.

There are now seven billion of us on the planet and since there are only 365 days in the year it is probably fair to say that there are lot of us who are celebrating a birthday today.

And I thought I was special.

See what the ego can do.

Have a great day my friends.

rgs

Trump's Folly

2011-12-05T06:00:00.002-05:00

One of the most asinine events to come out of the Republican campaign to choose a party nominee is to have Donald Trump moderate a debate hosted by the conservative magazine Newsmax.

It’s supposed to take place on December 27 in Des Moines, Iowa.

To their credit Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman will skip the debate citing concerns about the seriousness of the event. This kind of faux debate with the Trump ego moderating is a distraction and diminishing to the electoral process.

Gingrich, to his detriment, has accepted the Trump invitation. He says it has entertainment value. Gingrich currently leads in Iowa, with Paul in second and Romney trailing in third place.

It seems that Donald Trump will do and say anything for publicity. His kind of buffoonery demotes the GOP campaign into the absurd, slapstick and vaudevillian category.

No wonder politics and politicians have such low approval ratings. It is a one-act farce with a Harlequin moderator.

A Starry night

2011-12-02T06:00:00.001-05:00

A Starry Night

Behold the beauty sown in light

To bright the way of inner mist

Upon the canvas of the night.

Before the darkness goodnight kiss.

The naked trees of winter time

Pay homage in their silent prayer

To All That Is as Source sublime.

Their gowns of green no longer there.

We often ask to see the love

Of something greater than the mind.

A pristine sky and stars above

Are answers when the two combine.

My President

2011-12-01T06:00:00.003-05:00

Someone asked a question on my blog post about “Herman Cain Again.”

The question was who would I like to see as President of the United States?

My President has no name as yet, but he or she would have a powerful command of the English language so that explanations, policies, and choices would be explained in clear, understandable words.

(I will now use the world “he” as generic including both genders.)

My President would be honest and truthful to a fault and would look for the greater good in all-political relationships.

My President would not be politically fearful of making the tough decisions. He will have declared that he would serve only one term to be of pure service to the American people.

My President would strive to return the freedoms, guarantees and protections we have given up out of fear.

My President’s platform would be to establish term limits for all members of Congress. He would eliminate the double standard that Congress voted themselves and require all members to rejoin the Social Security and health care systems.

My President would prevent former members of Congress from becoming lobbyists and make it a law that members of Congress must put all their assets into a blind trust when serving the people.

My President will have come from common stock, not from a political dynasty. He will have traits and qualities of Gandhi, Jesus, Mohammed, and Krishna. He will have the humor of Will Rogers and Mark Twain. He will have the political acumen of Jefferson, Lincoln and Reagan and his campaign slogan will be “COMPROMISE FOR THE GREATER GOOD.”

Things Nobody Wants To Think About

2011-11-30T06:00:00.003-05:00

I heard difficult news from a number of people this week and it reminded me of some things we need to think about before we are too preoccupied to think about them.

There are some choices we might want to make before we can’t make them. I am talking about death and dying. An uncomfortable subject for most people.

Writer Robert Test did his thinking and this is what he wrote:

“After I die, don't call it my deathbed. Let it be called the bed of life."

Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise. Give my heart to the person who has nothing, but endless days of pain. Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car so that he may live to see his grandchildren play. Take my bones, every muscle fiber, every nerve and try to find a way to make a crippled child walk."

Burn the rest and scatter the ashes to the wind to help the flowers grow.

If you must bury something, bury my faults, my weaknesses and my prejudices against my fellow man.

If by chance you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or a word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever."

Thank you Robert Test.

Herman Cain Again!

2011-11-29T06:00:00.001-05:00

Mr. Cain, it is time to stop the charade.

This is the third time I have written about the alleged assignations of GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain.

This time it is a Georgia woman who alleges a 13-year affair with Mr. Cain.

I don’t need to go into the details in this post; you can do that for yourself if that is of interest to you.

What I find difficult to accept is that Mr. Cain continues to call all of these allegations political skullduggery.

Ginger White said her relationship with Cain was simple. It was consenting and it was fun. She said she decided to go public because she felt sorry for the other women who were being demonized because of their sexual harassment charges.

I don’t know if any of the allegations with the other four women or Ms. White are true. I don’t care.

I do care that Mr. Cain wants to be my president. There are now too many unknowns for me to support him. There are too many suspicious relationships for me to ignore as “dirty politics.” There are too many denials from Mr. Cain for me to ignore. Character is the issue and that’s the criteria for me.

Mr. Cain it is time for you to end your quest to be president. You have two choices. You can continue to speak your innocence and many will support you in that endeavor and join you in the fight for the nomination. Or you can withdraw without admitting any culpability.

Only your heart will know what’s true.

Our hearts and quest for sustainable leadership will look elsewhere.

Emerson's Essay

2011-11-28T06:00:00.003-05:00

I hope everybody had a happy Thanksgiving. I did with family and grand children.

Here is something a few of you might be interested in getting. I recently recorded an essay written by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was part of his lecture series in the late 1800’s. It’s called, The Uses of Great Men.”

Emerson uses the word “men” in this case to refer to all of humankind.

His text is convoluted and a bit foreign to our modern declarative ear, but it has always been one of my favorite essays of Emerson.

My friend, Brett Barry of Silver Hollow Audio did the recording and is offering it on his commercial website, www.silverhollowaudio.com. It will cost you about three bucks to download. It runs about 49-minutes.

I had fun doing it. If you get it please let me know what you think. Not of me reading it, although you may do so if you choose, but of what Emerson is saying.

Driving Home

2011-11-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm driving home from family time in Boston. This blog will resume on Monday. Have a great weekend.

RGS

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

RGS

JFK's Assassination

2011-11-23T06:00:00.001-05:00

November 22, 1963. Forty-eight years ago yesterday. For those of us who were alive then it does not seem possible that this kind of time has passed and so quickly. For those who were born after Kennedy was killed it was an historic event, for me it is a personal history.

There is a significant psychological difference between someone’s personal and professional history and what is historic for another.

I was a college student when John F. Kennedy ran for the presidency and I was a young journalist when he was assassinated. I was news director for a radio station in Syracuse, New York. I was also associated with a television station and needless to say the focus for days was on the assassination.

In those days no one had the technological abilities we have today to get an instant picture or a report from the scene. To get a live picture from Dallas took time and telephone landlines. It was not easy.

The late Walter Cronkite of CBS did most of his reporting from what was called a flash studio. There was a stationary camera in a small studio and the camera was always hot; ready to go if something major warranted breaking into regular programming.

Dan Rather was a local crime reporter for the CBS affiliate in Dallas. Through his local contacts he confirmed to the CBS network that the President was dead. The wire services, very prominent at the time, also reported and confirmed his death.

NBC News had David Brinkley and Chet Huntley. ABC, a young fledgling network at the time, had Murphy Martin and I believe Howard K. Smith.

It was a time of great turmoil and fear. It was, to use only half of Dickens’s opening line in a Tale of Two Cities, “it was the worst of times. Speculation was rampant with conspiracies and rumors.

Today, television outlets have the ability to get a picture from just about any spot on the globe and to do so quickly; a feat unheard of 48-years ago. In many ways I’m not sure which is better, instantaneous reportage and unbridled analysis or dogged reporting skills with proper and thoughtful analysis.

I will think about this, but not for very long.

Failure!

2011-11-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame on the congressional “super” committee. They were called to do a hard job and they failed.

They failed because they put party before our country.

They failed because they put themselves before the American people.

They failed because not one of them understands the global ramifications of their failure because they are snuggled into an elitist congressional comfort that protects them from their failure.

The public pillory should be brought back just for these twelve ineffectual, cowardly and politically selfish members of congress.

You should know their names:

In the Senate:

Max Baucus, John Kerry, Jon Kyl, Patty Murray, Rob Portman, Patrick Toomey.

In the House:

Xavier Becerra, Dave Camp, James Clyburn, Jeb Hensarling, Fred Upton and Chris Van Hollen.

Know their names, commit them to memory and if they are in your sphere of influence do not vote for them when they are up for re-election.

I am ashamed of congress and these congressmen and women. The rest of us know how to make the hard decisions of life because we make them everyday. We cut here and we cut there to make ends meet.

There needs to be a radical change in Washington, a radical about face from all representatives, including President Obama. He needs to step up and be an active leader for the greater good of our country, not for the partisan good, but for the greater good of all of us.

Finger pointing and verbal blame must cease. Congress you are the problem and we the people have the solution.

Pepper Spray

2011-11-21T09:17:00.000-05:00

The right of assembly and peaceful protest is a basic and sacred tenant of our constitution.

What happened at UC Davis is another tear in the fabric of freedoms and rights. Protesting students sitting on the ground arms locked together fits the criteria of assembly and protest. The students were not violent and not threatening in any way.

Two UC police officers in riot gear trying to break up the demonstration walked along the sitting students and sprayed them with pepper spray. Some students were able to keep their heads down to keep the stinging and caustic spray from their eyes; some did not and they were taken to the hospital. All of this was captured in photos and videos.

The spraying sequence has been seen by millions on the Internet and has energized the spreading the OWS protest movement around the country. It has also angered many and generated calls for the policemen to be fired and the University chancellor to resign.

The action by the campus police was cruel, uncalled for and a flagrant abuse of authorities’ power. The two officers have been placed on administrative leave.

Fortunately this was not a Kent State, but it is a usurping of constitutional freedoms and individual rights and the video sends the wrong message and image of what America is like to the rest of the world.

Water-boarding

2011-11-18T06:00:00.001-05:00

I’ve been thinking about this for quite awhile. It was approved in the Bush Administration with the active support of Vice President Cheney. The process, the torture, was probably developed decades earlier as a way to extract information from a captured enemy.

WATERBOARDING.

At the GOP debate this week Bachman, Perry and Cain were for the use of the water boarding torture to force information from prisoners.

Paul was not. He declared that water boarding is torture. He also reminded the applauding crowd (audience) that seemed to lust after the process that it is illegal under both United States and international laws. He also called it un-American.

Huntsman agreed with Paul and said that torture diminishes our standing in the world and the values we project.

Senator John McCain who was tortured when he was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam said to his republican colleagues in a letter that water boarding is torture.

Torture is not part of the American ethic. It is not and it has never been part of what we stand for. IT IS WRONG! It is wrong morally and ethically.

Bachman, Perry and Cain are wrong and because of their belief they should not be President of the United States.

The argument on the part of the pro water-boarding folks is that none of those tortured by water boarding are combatants under a single flag. They are a rogue enemy intent on killing anyone under a banner of religious or political beliefs. It is therefore acceptble to prevent further death and destruction. The argument makes us all pause and reflect, but in the end torture of any kind is inhumane and goes against the basic beliefs of the Oneness of humankind. It is inimical to the sharing of spiritual hopes and actions of peace. It destroys the decency within each of us who embrace democracy as a method of life and liberty.

Stone Wisdom - Now available again

2011-11-17T06:00:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone...I am pausing for a commercial message.

Stone Wisdom is now available. We did a second printing through createspace.com. They are very good and fair. If you'd like a copy please go to their website and order it. Basically Stone Wisdom is a collection of some of these posts plus some poetic commentary.

http://tinyurl.com/7ysyqgh

The following article was unsolicited and written by Charlene Rubush “author and book lover” (Donalsonville, Georgia). I've never met this woman, but I thank her for her kind words.

"Rolland G. Smith has lived a life that most of us can only dream of. He has over forty years of professional broadcast experience as an anchor, reporter, producer, and commentator.

This book is a wonderful combination of his insights and views on the issues facing the world today, and his poetry. He writes from both a practical, and spiritual perspective.

Smith covers a lot of territory in this slim volume. From subjects such as “Integrity”, “The Media”, “Courtesy,” “The Middle East”, “Hidden Prejudice”, “The Use of Power”, “Thoughts on Global Warming”, “Irish Thoughts”, and so much more, Smith offers his observations, conclusions, and hopes for the human race.

The author writes of Courtesy (p.6): “In the communities of America today the elderly, the young, the weak, the poor, the ordinary, the different, are often held hostage by the misdirected actions of a few who confuse rudeness with strength, insults with wit, and profanity with intellect…this is not something we can legislate, this is what we need to teach our children by example”.

On the Media (p.3), he observes “What we in the media need to remember in our quest to tell the story is civility, courtesy, kindness, and most of all, compassion”.

On Character (p.61), he notes “Character, the essence, the heart, the spirit of a human being, is the only criterion that determines one’s hierarchy”.

On Race (p.61), he states “Race does not and cannot give its members an advantage. Race does not make one smarter or stronger; only the grace of the divine within each of us can do that, and even then it is an individual choice to embrace that gift and then be the evidence of it”.

Smith’s sharing of his experiences and deep thoughts on society and life are rich indeed. This is a lovely book. Enthusiastically recommended!"

Chelsea Clinton - Reporter?

2011-11-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

What ever happened to paying your dues?

In almost every profession you start at the bottom; the entry level doorway that may or may not lead to a long career depending on your skills, your education, your talent and luck and if you love what you do.

Chelsea Clinton gets to start at the top! NBC has hired her as a reporter.

What about all those young reporters who have been “paying their dues” in the hinterlands of America? They’ve worked hard and with little pay to gain the experience, practice their craft, make their mistakes in the small markets in the hopes that someday they’d be given a chance to work in the majors; at the networks.

What makes Chelsea get the “big break?”

Celebrity. She’s the daughter of a former, yet politically active President. Her Mom is the high profile Secretary of State. Chelsea is used to privilege and protection. NBC hired her for her name only, not for any journalistic skills that she may possess.

Chelsea has for years disdained the press, the media, and understandably the paparazzi. I can’t recall any interview she has ever given either on camera or in print. She did work on her Mom’s presidential campaign, but would not talk to the media. She has ignored them and now she’s one them.

Chelsea is a well-educated successful young woman. She has degrees to prove it, but she does not have journalism experience. She will have skilled producers and all she has to do is front the stories upon which she reports.

That’s not being a reporter.

Hal Holbrook

2011-11-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

Once again I'll have the pleasure to listen to actor Hal Holbrook’s portrayal of American humorist and raconteur Mark Twain. He is lecturing at the LOTOS Club in New York City. I have seen him perform his Mark Twain many times over the years.

In some of his performances Holbrook goes into Twain’s “The War Prayer”. Twain wrote it around 1905. It was rejected by his publisher and then found after his death among his unpublished manuscripts.

Twain apparently wrote it as an opposition to the Philippines War of 1899-1902.

The whole story is too long for this post, but its essence is not. The story is a messenger from “The Throne”, shows up in a small church that had been praying for victory and safety for their young who are going off to war. The messenger says God wants them to know the unmentioned results, the unspoken part of the prayer, that must follow victory in war.

"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it -- for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

(*After a pause.*) The messenger says, "Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!"

Twain ends the story with this line. “It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

When The Warriors Come Home

2011-11-14T06:00:00.002-05:00

Last night on my radio program we discussed Veterans Day and its ramifications of honor, horror and heroics. My radio partner is a Vietnam Vet and we invited an Admiral friend of mine (retired) to talk about how we as a nation have changed in the way we honor our servicemen and women.

After the broadcast, I remembered that my Uncle Jack fought in World War One with a Canadian infantry regiment.

I don’t know much about him accept he was a stepbrother to my Father. He was ten or so years older and certainly a great influence on my Father. I never met Jack; I just heard stories about him.

Jack survived the war, but like too many of our returning combat veterans from the Gulf and Afghanistan Wars, he could not survive coming home. He committed suicide sometime after the war ended.

War does things to those who are asked to fight it. Perhaps it’s because it is an unnatural condition in which to live. Some make it through OK and go on to lead productive lives. They bury their unpleasant memories in a mind vault that’s rarely, if ever, opened.

Other veterans like my Uncle Jack could not let go of the pain, the fog, and the psychological wounds of battle with images of dead buddies and slain bodies and no bandages to heal the hurt.

I often wonder about the Uncle I never met, and I also wonder why we haven’t learned very much in a hundred years.

11/11/11 @ 11:11

2011-11-11T06:00:00.002-05:00

11/11/11 @11:11

In numerology it adds up to 10, which is a sign of completion.

I’m not sure what the world is completing today, but it is a significant number and I have been awaiting its effect, if any, for some time.

I do think it is significant, but beyond that I have no idea. I do plan to spend some time in meditation and positive thought for our collective future. I think more of us need to hold a positive vision of what the future can look like especially when I read the headlines of negativity.

* Iran working on a nuclear bomb and is close.

* The Arab Spring tends to swing toward an uncompromising religious ideology.

* Israel’s ultra orthodox is gaining converts and power possibly limiting freedoms for women.

* The global economy is in shambles with Greece needing to create severe economic austerity measures and the public doesn’t want it. So does Italy and who knows from there where it goes. The Euro is in trouble.

* The GOP candidates fluff and bluster, state and attack, always criticizing the Democrats or in particular President Obama. Few, if anybody, see the necessity and value of compromise. Absolutism in all corners of the world seems to be the prevailing passion.

Guess what?

That may be the appearance in the world for the old will always grab the headlines, but the new is hidden just below the surface of reality. The vision of peace, prosperity and positive thinking is bubbling to the surface of our awareness and it will manifest if we give it the energy of thought.

11/11/11@11:11 will happen two times today.

I hope you join me in the meditation of what can be by acknowledging that all is as it should be.

Ties

2011-11-10T06:00:00.002-05:00

I was in the big apple yesterday. I was there for a nice event in the evening. I decided I buy a new tie and walked into the men's clothing section at Bergdorf Goodman.

Once again I got a confirmation of why this country is in the economic sewer. GREED!

The tie section was festooned with hundreds of colorful neck ware. I looked at one tie that caught my eye and turned it over to see the price.

$195.00!!!!!!!

I was shocked. There were no gems on the tie. The stitching was not done with gold thread. It wasn't silk from a rare worm in Asia. It was a cloth tie that probably used less than a half yard of material made by cheap labor somewhere.

$195.00! Are they crazy? And that was before applicable New York City and state taxes.

No tie is worth that kind of an outrageous price.

I walked out and will never shop Bergdorf's again.

Herman Cain once again

2011-11-09T06:00:00.001-05:00

OK, back to Herman Cain for a moment. He has been accused by a forth woman of sexual harassment, this time of groping. The dictionary defines groping as the following.

grope [grəʊp]

1. (intr; usually foll by for) to feel or search about uncertainly (for something) with the hands

2. (intr; usually foll by for or after) to search uncertainly or with difficulty (for a solution, answer, etc.)

3. (tr) to find or make (one's way) by groping

4. (tr) Slang to feel or fondle the body of (someone) for sexual gratification

the act of groping

[Old English grāpian; related to Old High German greifōn, Norwegian greipa; compare gripe]

gropingly adv

Meaning number one is a possibility for Mr. Cain. He was allegedly feeling and searching for something with the hands.

Number two: probably doesn’t apply, but it could.

Number three: that works.

Number four” ahhh….Eureka! (Allegedly)

Yesterday at a news conference Mr. Cain had this response to the allegations that he groped Sharon Bislek, the woman who accused him of the action. The question asked was would he be willing to take a lie detector test to refute the accusation?

His answer was yes, but…

"But I'm not going to do that unless I have a good reason to do that..."

I am wondering what is a good reason for him to do that?

Come on Herman….go home, you’ve had your fifteen minutes in the sunlight of fame.

"Do Not Call"

2011-11-08T06:00:00.003-05:00

This is “rant” Tuesday.

Today is Election Day. In my community I have been deluged with political telephone calls from various candidates and it is always around dinnertime the night before.

I thought I was on the “do not call” list, but guess what? Congress has exempted themselves and all politicians from that annoyance because they can exempt themselves.

(It’s time to change the rules and people who make up the rules.)

If you haven’t made up your mind by the day before an election than you ought not to be able to vote. It is not hard to ascertain a candidate’s policies. It is not hard to discern their philosophy or their proclivities to be conservative or centrists or liberal. Read the literature, read the local newspapers, listen the commentators and digest the information. It will or should supply enough information with which to make a fair determination and a reason to cast a vote.

If you’re a diehard something or another then it doesn’t matter. You vote party no matter what truth the other candidate is speaking. (For me that’s another rant for another time.)

So why all the calls at dinner time the night before the election? Because they think we are illiterate, lazy and will pull the lever because they called personally. I have a lot of trouble having a personal relationship with a non-personal automatic device that says, “ Hi, I’m so and so and I’d like your vote tomorrow.”

Try asking a question to the recorded voice and see where you get.

I have made a list. I will not vote for any of those candidates who called. They should know better. I repeat, they should really know better. It’s offensive. It’s intrusive. It’s part and parcel of Congress' elite position to exempt itself from everything the rest of have to experience.

Once again, I’m tired of it.

Andy Rooney

2011-11-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

As Emerson wrote in his “Uses of Great Men,” …within the limits of human education and agency, we may say, great men exist that there may be greater men. The destiny of organized nature is amelioration, and who can tell its limits? It is for man to tame the chaos; on every side, whilst he lives, to scatter the seeds of science and of song, that climate, corn, animals, men, may be multiplied.

Andy Rooney is gone and the eternal light is now brighter. His greatness stays with us for it will be awhile before we see his like again.

A Master's Thought

2011-11-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

A Master's Thought

What is our spirit telling us

When we true listen to its words?

Is it a truth where we adjust

Or phrases for the bees and birds?

Both what I know and what I think

Are different from my spirit mind

Where thinking oft connotes a wink,

But knowing is a thought refined.

The Masters always speak of Now

And let the past and future go.

Be elegant and disavow

The thoughts that held us long ago.

Illusion is the ego’s force

A construct of our human mind.

It tis a path and compass course

For sleepy souls of humankind.

The Masters tell us to awake

And thus embrace the inner heart

And live the NOW to not forsake

What spirit’s heart will true impart.

Herman Cain

2011-11-03T06:00:00.002-04:00

The claims of sexual harassment with Herman Cain when he was with the National Restaurant Association in the 1990’s is serious despite his denial and attempts to pass them aside.

His character is in question as is his integrity.

It is now three female former employees that have accused him of inappropriate behavior toward employees.

Some people say I don’t care and others say it’s important for the individual in the oval office to be above reproach.

The oval office requires a stellar character. It is power and power will corrupt if the occupant thinks he or she can get away with it or if he or she does not recognize that some personal behavior is morally corrupt. Any abortion of character in the oval office has the potential to subvert the sacredness of the presidency.

Herman Cain has much explaining to do.

He cannot claim this is a Perry plot or a racial witch-hunt and pass it off; the stakes are too high for our country.

Emerson's Essay

2011-11-02T06:00:00.002-04:00

I suppose this post could be called a promo and a heads up.

Today I am recording with my friend Brett Barry at his studio Silver Hollow Audio an essay that Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote back in the mid 1800’s. It is called, “The Uses of Great Men”. (Emerson uses the term “men” to mean all of humankind.)

I was first exposed to this essay in high school as an assignment in an advanced English class. When I read it at that time I did not understand the gestalt of the essay, but I loved so many of the phrases such as, “other men are lenses through which we read our own minds,” that I embraced Emerson’s essay as something profound throughout my adult life and career.

I was telling Brett about the experience and he said, “let’s record it.”

Silver Hollow audio is recording this bit of archaic prose to offer it as part of their collection for sale. I hope you will bookmark, “silverhollowaudio.com” and see their roster of audio considerations.

Thank you for your indulgence in this joy of mine.

I'll let you know when it is complete and available.

UNESCO

2011-11-01T06:00:00.004-04:00

In Paris, at the United Nations Headquarters, UNESCO, the UN agency we have supported for years is now a persona non grata in the diplomatic and monetary largess of the United States.

UNESCO voted yesterday to admit Palestine into the agency organization as a member. Guess what we did? We responded by cutting off funding for the agency.

Here’s the explanation from an article in the Washington Post.

“Acting under a legal requirement to cut U.S. funds to any U.N. agency that recognizes a Palestinian state, the State Department on Monday announced that the United States has stopped funding the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization because of the vote. Department spokesman Victoria Nuland told reporters that the Obama administration would not make a planned $60 million payment to the agency due this month.”

I understand the need to support Israel. The Middle East has been a volatile region since ancient Egyptian times, but perhaps it is time for sensible heads to end the exchange of violence. It is the only way a change can take place.

Two days ago rocket exchanges and airstrikes between the two sides have left 13 dead. If you were to place thirteen bodies on your front yard or in your living room you would have a perspective of loss not understood in any news report.

It’s time to talk. It’s time to let go of the hate and embrace the only thing that can take its place. LOVE, RESPECT and COMPASSION.

I once asked the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir what it would take to have a lasting peace in the Middle East. She said, “When Israeli Mothers teach their children not to hate and Palestinian Mothers teach their children not to hate then we will have peace in the Middle East”.

The United States needs to rescind it non-payment order. UNESCO is an education, scientific and cultural organization, not a political entity or a pawn. We, the United States, need to be an arbiter of peace not a contributor to the perpetuation of violence.

SNOW? It's October for God's sake.

2011-10-31T06:00:00.002-04:00

And while we wait for the snow to melt....some time today probably in Asia the world's population will reach seven billion.

It Makes You Wonder

2011-10-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

It’s no wonder so many folks are negative about the future and think nearly everything is haywire in business and politics.

Here are some headlines from yesterday’s papers.

China has a debt crisis. (Great another financial crisis)

Taxpayers on hook for 74 Million dollar loan. (Bankruptcy again)

Exxon profit tops 10-BILLION. (Ten Billion!!!!! Profit? Unbelievable)

Madoff is happy in prison. (Wonderful. What about those he duped?)

Small businesses fear going under. (It’s OK, Exxon made 10-billion profit)

Freddie Mac executives to step down. (Probably with big parachutes)

And here’s one of the books:

The Kaddafi family to sue NATO for war crimes in world court for contributing to his death.

Have a nice weekend everyone

Blame the Media

2011-10-27T06:00:00.002-04:00

Governor Rick Perry now says debates were a mistake for him, but, as he told Bill O’Reilly, “what can I do?”

(Try preparing Mr. Perry)

Mr. Perry forgets that forensics or the art of debate and public discussion is as old as anyone can remember.

Governor Perry basically screwed up. He was not prepared in his own mind to explain his ideas in a cogent and succinct manner to the various questioners in the debate formats.

Perry blames the media calling them, “they.” Mark Sapperfield of the Christian Science Monitor reported what Perry said to O’Reilly.

“These debates are set up for nothing more than to tear down the candidates," he said. "It’s pretty hard to be able to sit and lay out your ideas and your concepts with a one-minute response. So, you know, if there was a mistake made, it was probably ever doing one of the [debates], when all they’re interested in is stirring up between the candidates instead of really talking about the issues that are important to the American people.”

O’ contraire, Mr. Perry, important life issues are the fodder of the media and their responsibility. Do not blame the questioner. Blame yourself for not being prepared for a diligent press and an astute public.

Many of the questions asked during the debates came from everyday citizens who are interested in what you would do if you became President. Nobody is trying to set you up or any of your candidate compatriots.

Many of those in governmental politics do not think the American public is intelligent. They think we will believe anything that sounds intelligent or reasonable or solves a complex problem with simplistic reasoning.

We, the public, are far more experienced in everyday life and all we need to know is why and how and we will make the collective choice through our franchise in the voting booth. We know what needs to be done far more so than the myopic elites of congress. We are the ones who make the sacrifices, not congress who have voted themselves out of the constraints with which we have to live.

Speaking of voting out……….

Twins tortured and starved

2011-10-26T06:00:00.001-04:00

Sometimes a story grabs your attention and pulls you into a sadness and anger that you cannot shake or dismiss.

The imprisonment and starvation of twins in Vancouer, Washington is one of them.

Maybe you’ve heard the story by now. Jeff and Sandra Weller adopted phillipino twins, a boy and girl, when they were two years old. The twins were locked in a room with no door nob and an alarm if they tried to escape. They were staved and beaten. The twins are now 16 years old. They managed to slip a note to someone and the authorities found them.

The law will decide the fate of the Wellers. They are due in court tomorrow, but what of the children? They are now in foster care.

I want to believe that there is a place of cuddling comfort and dancing peaceful wonder. A place where toys and crayons never break, and scratches, cuts and bumps do not exist.

A place where teddy bears talk in happy colors, and puppies always wait to play. A place where candy is for breakfast and presents fill the room. Where no one knows what fear is and no shadows hide in halls.

I want to believe that in this special place, every mother who ever lived and loved her children, is waiting with open arms to hug, to love and comfort any child that has ever been abused.

I want to believe it, for when I do, anger and judgment fade and sadness takes its rightful place and I can cry without the want of vengeance.

Expectoration

2011-10-25T06:00:00.001-04:00

I was always taught that spitting was unsanitary, unhealthy and a filthy habit. The only time it was acceptable was when a bug flew in my mouth or I got hit in the mouth while playing a game or just fooling around and you had spit blood. Spitting was never done in polite society.

Over the last few weeks I’ve watched the baseball playoffs and now the series. They spit in the dougout, they spit at home plate, they spit everywhere. At first I thought the only one who doesn’t spit is the catcher because he has a mask on, but then I saw one lift the mask, spit and go back to signaling his pitcher.

I know this is gross, but can you imagine the collective accumulation of saliva in the dirt around home plate and the other bases and especially in the dugout. I’d hate to be the guy who has to swab the dugout floor after a game. And I’d hate to be the catcher who has to look at that stuff in the dirt and then catch a ball that’s bounced in a glob of body fluid. I know it’s gross, but look at what it teaches our Little Leagues.

Major League Baseball is big, big business. They bill themselves as wholesome family entertainment; they promote high moral and ethical standards among the players, yet baseball is one of the few sports where spitting is constant and the camera always seems to have a close-up of the player in the act.

It seems to me Major League Baseball could suggest and encourage its players to be a little more courteous to the fans who watch on television.

Spitting is a habit and habits can be eliminated with conscience effort.

Pakistan

2011-10-24T06:00:00.000-04:00

Beware of Pakistan!

The United States and Pakistan have never really seen eye to eye. They like our money however. The United States gives them more than two billion a year in military aid and assistance.

We close one eye to their suspected duplicity because we think we need them to win in Afghanistan. We count Pakistan as a nominal ally. Some ally.

Recently one of our top military officials indicated the Pakistan’s spy agency plays a direct role in undermining American efforts in Afghanistan. That may have included protecting Osama Bin Laden when he was hiding there although the official did not refer to that operation.

Pakistan publically criticized the covert America raid to get Bin Laden and threatened a break in US/Pakistani relations. So things have not been hunkey dory between our two countries.

Now, over the weekend, Afghan president Hamid Karzai said if war ever broke out between the United States and Pakistan, Afghanistan would support Pakistan. Hey, Hamid, your bread is not buttered on both sides.

The United States is spending lives and treasure in insure the Taliban do not get control of Afghanistan; maybe it’s time we rethought our ill conceived commitment to be there in the first place. Every other country that tried to either control or help Afghanistan has left the country with lives wasted.

Are we next?

Gadaffi

2011-10-21T06:00:00.002-04:00

Gaddafi is dead.

I wonder how a dictator gets power initially? Somebody and probably many “somebodies” have to support him or her so that the consolidation of power is strong enough to coerce others to acquiesce either out of fear or for the promise of comfort. Kaddafi had guns and bullies behind him and that was his beginning.

I also wonder where the strength and courage to oppose tyranny is at the beginning of a dictatorship? You find at the end of a cruel rein where citizens are willing to give their lives to fight against a corrupt regime.

You would think that these same courageous people would oppose the culprit before the sycophants and misfits who inhabit all societies solidify absolute control.

I wonder too what draws common people to support tyrants like a Gaddafi, or a Hussein or a Hitler.

Is it because of a personal charisma or is it the rhetoric tyrants preach blaming common troubles on another race, or ethnicity or religion or is it the false promises of treasure?

Crowd mentality is always willing to believe somebody or something else causes lack. It’s unfortunate, but a crowd nature is quick to blame others for one’s troubles rather than accept responsibility for personal choices and the consequence that results from that choice.

It may be human nature to blame others in times of weakness and want, but it is also human nature to live and let live. It is more human to love than it is to hate. It is our innate nature to create and not destroy. Our global community must choose to embrace principle in these times of change or all of us will reap what we collectively sow.

Peepers

2011-10-20T06:00:00.001-04:00

For those of you in the northeast, did you notice how the fall colors festooned this year in a matter of days?

I thought for sure two weeks ago that we were not going to see the brilliance we usually see in the waning days of October, but all of a sudden the yellows, reds, oranges and browns popped and we have a peepers paradise.

“Peepers” are what we call the city folks who drive a few hundred miles north to see the colors in the Catskills. They do it on a weekend and clog the rural roads with slow traffic and photographers poking their cameras out the car windows.

I don’t blame them. There is something atavistic and comforting about seeing first hand the changing seasons. The colorful sights resonate and rejuvenate a knowing inside us that holds our attention to change and says it’s OK; it’s normal.

Poetically I would put it this way:

O' fleeting, splendid bright, October's dazzling light

Long hidden in the buds of birth below the green.

An ecstasy of eyes ability to see,

What nevermore and ever will again be seen.

Tiara wreaths of crimson reds and sienna.

Robes of rusted browns, ensigns tanned in saffron hue,

Waving standards of the Oak, the Birch and Maple,

The Ash and Aspen, just before their leafs adieu.

Blowing in a pruning breeze, colors drop away

Not to die, but to decorate the frosted fall

And celebrate the shedding cloak of summer's sheen

Before the dancing flakes of snow will white enthrall.

Colors are the chorus, the season’s change in sound.

Scarlet, a crispy snap, Jasmines much more frail,

Maroons rustle in the breath of a bounding wind

And lingering greens help the harmonies prevail.

The leaves of fall, the garland crowns of wooded land

Attune to the life of man by the breaths we share.

The exhale of one, the inhale of the other,

A symbiotic natural grace within the air.

Keep they palate bright, October, drop no more leaves,

Least not until appreciation passes by

And then, the comfort of your flower quilt will warm

A winter day with thanks the way you beautify.