|
|
Topics of Discussion
Discussion of The
Month
Well, it is November
and the cleanup and restoration period for Hurricane Wilma is
continuing. South
Florida has been devastated by Wilma. Broward County took a direct
hit from the hurricane. The entire southern third of the
state of Florida was devastated by Wilma. Fort Lauderdale was
particularly hard hit by the hurricane. Immediately after the
storm 98% of the customers of FP&L were without power. The
other counties affected had similar power outages. As of this
writing, October 30, 2005, about 50% of the customers of FP&L
in Broward county have had their power restored. The Image of
the Month, above, shows the restoration predictions. As of
October 30, power in the Keys has been fully restored and tourist
have been allowed to enter the Upper and Middle Keys, the Lower
Keys on October 31. A small number of the 1350+ traffic
signals in Broward have been restored. Gas stations are coming on
line, but there are still lines at the stations that are open.
Stores are opening, some have power some have generators, but many
stores, restaurants and other commercial businesses remain closed.
The cleanup and the restoration of South Florida will take a long
time. The tourist industry has been hard hit. It is a devastating
situation for the area. The government - federal, state and local,
has done an outstanding job in the recovery process. FEMA has
risen to the occasion. There was miscommunication and
confusion immediately after the storm concerning FEMA's
distribution of ice and water, but the confusion was cleared up
and they have done an outstanding job. The Red Cross has done a
great job during the recovery process. Both FEMA and the Red
Cross continue to be a life savior to the residents of South
Florida. Many residents of South Florida did not prepare for the
storm. They just did not take the threat of the storm seriously.
That is a shame. The result, people who did not prepare suffered
the most immediately after the storm. Storm preparations should
have included a 72 hour supply of water, nonperishable food,
batteries and other medical, personal & safety items necessary
for survival. Also, car fuel tanks should have been topped off
before the storm. All the advice, resources and pleading of
officials and media did not make a difference to those Floridians
who chose not to prepare for the aftermath of the storm. I
must say that I did prepare for the storm, as I do with each and
every hurricane threat. Of course, if you know me, you know that I
usually do what is expected of me and usually follow directives of
my leaders, in any situation. The biggest thing that people should
learn from this experience- be informed, aware and prepare
for possible natural disasters.
The quote of the month
is timely in this era of big spending. It seems like the
depression-era Americans are dwindling in numbers as well as their
philosophy of spending. The once fiscal conservative Republicans
are become the big spenders of this the 21st century. The
hurricane disasters of 2004 and 2005 have added to our National
Debt, but we must support the less fortunate Americans in their
time of need. World disasters have added to our debt, but we must
support our world neighbors in this global economy. These things
happen and we must be there for the victims, but many of the
victims are in that situation because of poor planning and lack of
motivation. There are a lot, I mean a lot of hard working,
concerned and community minded Americans, but there are a number
of Americans who take what they can get and never give back. I'm not talking about the
poor, the disabled or those who are in dire situations through no
fault of their own. I am referring to the hundreds of American who
have chosen apathy, laziness and despair in their own life
situations. In time of crisis these Americans are the first in
line with their hands open. They take, but never give back to
society. In a major way, our debt has risen because of the financial
policies of the Bush administration. The tax cut for the
wealthiest of Americans was wrong, remains wrong and will be plaguing
the American citizenry for decades. Taking away from the poor and
giving to the rich without foresight of the consequences of such a
reckless fiscal policy is reprehensible. We are in this together,
we must struggle together, equitably sharing the task.
Remember, November 1
is All Saint's Day. It's the day we remember all those who have
died and have entered the gates of heaven. We honor all of the
souls in heaven who have not been blessed with their own, personal
remembrance day. November 2 we remember those souls who are still
suffering in the state of Purgatory. I don't know if I believe in
the concept of Purgatory, but I don't have all the answers, so
I'll still pray for the repose on the souls of my love ones and
friends on All Souls Day, November 2.
Happy Birthday Chris.
Have a good day. I am personally proud of you for the job you are
doing in providing a loving home for Austin. You are to be
commended for your effort, motivation and success.
Finally, we need to
really celebrate Thanksgiving Day by truly giving thanks for the
blessings in our lives. No one has the perfect life. No one has
all the right answers. No one has the right to judge another
person. Each of us has the right to live the life that is ours and
ours alone and thank God on Thanksgiving Day and every day
throughout our life. Happy
Thanksgiving!
Entertainment
A
History of Violence is a so-so movie. It wasn't bad, but
it wasn't great either. It was entertaining. It did offer a
message to it's viewers, but the message was entangled in
violence, killing and deceit. One good thing about the movie, it
was around 90 minutes, my kind of movie. I would recommend it, but
it wasn't great.
As far as TV, I'm
still enjoying Commander-in-Chief on Tuesday nights. It
does get frustrating to me at times, like during every episode -
the backstabbing and partisan shenanigans that go on in our
American government, shameful. I get so annoyed with illegal,
unethical and irresponsible behavior, especially when it happens
in our government and the American people are the victims. But
life goes on, and so will our government, one way or another. I do
like Geena Davis in the role of the president of the United
States. I wonder if Hillary Clinton watches the show. This could
be art imitating life. You think?
Boston Legal is
another show that I am falling for, figuratively of course. It
comes on right after Geena Davis, it was just in the right place
at the right time for me to enjoy. It is a funny show. Many older
and popular stars appear in it -
Health, Fitness and
Lifestyle
A new study is out
saying that 9 out of 10
men and 7 out of 10 women will become overweight as they age.
Inevitable? Not if you continue to monitor your eating habits and
your fitness level. But the sad truth is, most older Americans are
overweight and out of shape. Just look at TV. The TV stars of
yesterday, the ones who are still alive, many are now anything but trim
and in shape. Betty White is presently playing a role in Boston
Legal. She is in her early eighties. All of a sudden she is
looking old and she has a stomach on her that would rival Jackie
Gleason's. On the show, she unusually is seen wearing a jacket, to
hide those stomachs. Now I know that 80 something is quite old,
many of us will live pass 80, but the point is, fitness has no
age limit. Just watch TVLand. I think it's TVLand Confidential
or something like that, older celebrities tell stories about the
"good ole days". Most of them are down right fat. As
I've said many times, one's fitness level is entire up to the
person involved and looks are not the important point, but fitness
and healthy eating are essential to longevity. A bigger point is,
if one has maintain a degree of fitness and healthy eating for
most of his or her life, why succumb to a less than healthy
lifestyle when you age? Bottom line , you are still what you eat
no matter your age.
Most men watch porn.
Come on now, it's a fact, men watch porn more than women. Oh, you
may not go to those porn sites on the Internet and you might not
buy those porn DVDs, but if it were available to you and you are a
man you would watch it and enjoy it. The point is, men enjoy porn
more than women, on the average. When porn interferes with your
relationship to your significant other, there's a problem. When
sexual intimacy between two people is regulated by porn or if it
affects the relationship in any adverse way, then porn is a
problem and should be dealt with accordingly. The two people
involved must talk to one another honestly and without malice. It
should be treated like any other problem that may develop between
the two people in a relationship. Communication is the key to most
relational problems. One caution about porn, porn must be off
limits to children, it's an adult activity. Also, people can and
often times do become "addicted" to porn. This addiction
or compulsion should be dealt with like any other addiction.
Professional help must be secured. Act responsibly in every
situation.
Did you hear about the
new diet, Eat More. Actually eat more low calorie, water filled
food like soups and salads. Studies show that hunger may be
controlled by eating more foods like soup and salad. I think a little self
discipline is involved here, too. You must be committed to losing
weight and becoming fit to use this as well as other strategies
involving diet. There are many little tricks that one learns in that
game called fitness and healthy eating. Tricks, yes, but commitment
is essential for success. Tricks or no tricks, sometimes you just
have to have that piece of chocolate. By all means have that one
piece of chocolate, but then stop and eat no more and continue
eating healthy.
Cell phones are back
in the headlines. Scientist, researchers are still trying to determine
the degree of risk to one's health of regular cell phone
use. Radiation is still a problem. The degree of this radiation
and the impact on one's health have not been fully answered, yet.
One definite conclusion has been made, children should not be
using cell phones on a regular basis. Continued use for a long
period of time and the effect of this radiation on the developing
young person present some deadly conclusions concerning the health
of these children. To me cell phones should be used in emergencies,
at least until the long term effects of the radiation is known and
proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Remember cigarettes and the
lung cancer controversy back in the last century?
Rudeness is on the
rise. Most Americans will say that people in this the 21st century are
getting ruder. Many have stories to tell about motorists in
traffic, at the mall, in the checkout line...I could go on and on.
The funny thing, most people will say that it's someone else being
rude, not them. The only way to deal with rudeness and
inappropriate behavior is to be honest and to recognize that we
all are becoming more rude and unchristian to other people. Just
like peace, " it has to start with me".
Politics and the
World
Florida Governor Jeb
Bush has reversed his stand on offshore drilling. He was against
any oil drilling off the coast of Florida because of the potential
detrimental effects of a possible oil spill and it's affect on tourism.
Now the Governor says that we can drill for oil if the drilling
site is at least 125 miles from the shoreline. I think that this
may be a good compromise. After the Gulf Coast hurricanes and
their affect on the oil and natural gas industries, we must admit
that other sources
of energy must be developed. We must find other sources of energy,
sources that are not dependent on a foreign country, too. America
should become less dependent on foreign countries for energy. We
should be more isolationists. America is one country among equals
in the United Nations, not the only country. By the way, the
Florida delegation is split on the off shore oil drilling
situation. I suspect much of their indecision is based on
political reasons, not national welfare concerns. And that's
another problem, our elected government leaders are always politicking,
concerned about public opinion and votes, and not concerned
for the welfare of the United States and it's people. To me, this
is probably the number one reason for all the trouble in the
United States today. Greed, power, control and selfishness of our
elected officials contribute to the status quo in the solutions of
our national problems. Think about this in 2008 and the off-year
elections in 2006.
Is the Harriet Miers
nomination to the Supreme Court in trouble? I think so. I think
the President pulled a cronyism act again. He nominated one of his
friends, his own personal White House advisor, to the highest court
in the land. Will he never learn. He has nominated a totally
unqualified person to the court. He expects the conservative right
to simply trust him in this nomination. All I can say is that the
man has nerve, wrongly directed, but nerve none the less. As time
goes on I feel that the nomination will be rightly defeated in committee
and will not get a Senate vote or the nominee will remove her name
from consideration. For people like me, this is
wonderful. A conservative Republican president acting so
independent of his base, causing distrust and anger among the
conservative right and surely causing dreadful and devastating
political ramification in the 2006 mid-term elections and possibly
the 2008 presidential election is a liberal Democrat's dream. Go
on President Bush, completely self destruct and cause the ultimate
demise of the conservative right. This may be too much to hope
for, but I can dream, can't I. Yes, dream and dream of all the
indictments, corruptions and the deceptions in the Bush
administration, the Republican Congress and the Republican Party.
I still say, "Beware of false prophets".
Slot machines: Florida
voters passed it in 2004, but where are the slots? The state
legislature and the Governor of Florida are dragging their feet on
enacting legislation to establish the intentions of the people of
Florida. Florida voters have spoken, did the state legislature not
hear them? I thought the voters determined the gambling issue, why
is the state not doing it's job in providing legislation to ensure
the will of the people? The state leaders are in direct violation
of their constitutional duty, to enact the wishes of the voters.
The should be held in contempt for deliberately defying the vote
of the people of Florida. How dare they defy the constitution of
the State of Florida. C'mon y'all, do your job and do it now.
Religion and
Spiritualism
Is the Bible relevant
today? Yes, the Bible is relevant in this the 21st century,
however, one must not take it literally and consider it a history
book. The Bible is the word of God, in the general sense, but it
is written in the vocabulary of man of the time. The ideas found in the Bible
are true and from the mouth of God, but the words in which they
are written and described are from the pen of their author, man.
Christian religions view the Bible in different lights depending
on the focus of the religion. I believe most Protestants,
especially, fundamentalists, read the Bible as if it were a
history book. They believe that everything happened just the way
in which it was written. Most Catholics believe that the Bible is
the word of God, but a human being wrote the words that explained
the story about this word of God. I think Protestants hold the
Bible central in their worship, Catholics see the Bible as a guide
in their worship. This all came about from the Protestant
Reformation. The protestors of the Middle Ages (Dark Ages) wanted to differ
themselves form the established (Catholic) Church, they wanted to
be "different" from the church that they had revolted
against. They turned to the Bible as the core to their new
religion. They revolted against the sins of the Catholic Church.
There were many errors on the side of the Catholic Church, the
Catholic clergy and hierarchy. Corrupt men seemed to control God's
church and His people, this was wrong. But one must understand that not all
of the clergy or not all of the hierarchy followed this believe.
The Church instituted by Jesus Christ and passed down to His
disciples, the Apostles, would reform itself and survive. It did
in the Middle Ages and it continues and will continue to survive throughout
the ages. However, all men and women have the God given
right to express their believe in God and their worshipping
mode in the manner they desire. As I've said many times in
this Blog, in the end it will come down to you and your God at judgment
day, no church will be with you, you will be alone with the
Father. As far as the leaders of the Catholic Church, they must be
challenged, they must respect and share the Church with the
laity, and they must be relevant in today's world. But in
the end each man and each woman will be held responsible for his
or her behavior.
A senior cardinal in
Rome reaffirms the celibacy rule for priests and played down the
shortage that has many churches without priests to celebrate mass.
The cardinal said the access to the Eucharist is a gift and not a right of
Catholics. He also reaffirmed
that divorced Catholics who marry without getting an annulment
cannot receive communion and hinted at revisions in the procedure for
annulment. These affirmations will be presented to the Synod of Bishops
in Rome and to Pope Benedict for his approval. This is precisely what is
wrong with the Church. It seems that this "senior
cardinal" does not understand that the Church is the people.
The people should be involved in any decisions regarding the
expression of their religion. The Eucharist is a gift, a gift from
God. It should be available to all Catholics at all times, not
just when it is convenient to the hierarchy. If there are too few
priests, then amend the laws concerning priests - allow married
men and women to become priests. Simple. Divorce - Annulment,
what's the difference? If the marriage is over, it's over. Do
amend the laws of annulment. If the annulment of a marriage
restores the individuals ability to receive the sacraments, then
do it. This is the 21st century. Divorce is not the best situation
for the "family" but living without love in an
adversarial and uncommitted relationship is not too good for the
"family" either. Rules, rules, rules - too many rules.
Rules breed control by a few and control by a few is not following
Jesus Christ's message. We are the Church and we should determine
the rules, but the Church is a social organization and the
hierarchy of the Church should serve as the Board of Directors, so to speak.
Muslims celebrated
Ramada around October 2. Ramada starts when the first sliver of the new moon is
sighted, the celebration lasts a month. This is a time of devotion and fasting.
To fix
attention on spiritual matters, the faithful refrain from eating,
drinking, smoking and sexual relations during daylight hours. They
attend Mosque services every night, one-thirteenth of the Koran is
read every night so the whole book is read by the end of Ramadan. Observance of Ramadan is one of the five "pillars" or
basic duties of Islam, others are - almsgiving, prayer 5 times
daily, at least one pilgrimage to Mecca if possible, and the
confession that there is no god but God, and Muhammad is the
messenger of God. Adults are expected to observe Ramadan unless they
are traveling, ill or defending their country in wartime. Women are not
required to fast during menstruation or while nursing babies, but
they are expected to fast for every day they have deferred it.
Islam believes that it is the completion of Christianity which is
the completion of Judaism. Judaism, Christianity and Islam share
many similarities. Isn't it about time we become more
compassionate, aware and involved in the similarities in all
religions. After all, we are all the children of God, no matter
how we see Him.
Technology and
Business
October brought a new bankruptcy
law to help Americans take more responsibility for their debts. No
longer will people be able to file for bankruptcy and have their
entire debt forgiven. People who have yearly incomes above
their state's poverty level will still be responsible for their
debt. They will have to pay their debtors over a period of time
and under the watchful eye of a debt counselor. I think this is
good. People should be held accountable for their spending. The
bottom line, do not buy it if you can not afford it. Young people
do not need to have all of the conveniences and "toys"
in their possession from the moment they start to make a living.
Maybe they should wait before they buy that second car, maybe
develop and maintain a budget. In any case, this is a win - win
situation for the American people and the economy. Personally, I am
tired of paying for other peoples mistakes. I am not taking about
low income people, people who have been "left behind" or
forgotten about when aspiring to the American dream. We will
always have our poor and we must and we shall care for them if
they can not care for themselves. People who have gotten into financial trouble
because of greed, irresponsibility or poor planning and are able
to pull themselves out of the situation, must be held accountable
for their mistakes. Floridians must be mindful about the effect of
this new law and home ownership. In the past, Floridian's homes
were exempt in the determination of assets used to repay a delinquent
financial account. According to this new law, if a person buys a
home less than 1,215 days before filing bankruptcy federal
law limits the exemption to the first $125,000 of the
person's home. So, you may lose part of your home if you don't pay your
bills. Also, Florida law had unlimited protection for Individual
Retirement Accounts, now the federal law pre-empts that and limits
protection to $1million, this does not apply to money in an IRA that is
rolled over from other accounts. Good. People must learn to be
responsible in all of their dealings.
What's happened in the
real estate market? It's still growing and surpassing all
expectations. The highest prices for single family homes are
found in places like: La Jolla,
California, 2005 average sales price $1,875,000;
Santa Monica, California $1,766,666;
Beverly Hills and Santa Barbara in California; Miami and Boca
Raton in Florida as well as West Palm Beach, Florida. The
least expensive: Killeen, Texas
$131,328; and areas in West Virginia, Montana, Oklahoma, West Virginia, South Dakota
and Michigan. I believe that the real estate market will bottom
out soon. I do think homes will maintain their current value, but
I don't think the prices will increase as dramatically as over the
past few years.
Avoid e-mail phishing.
E-mail phishing is on the rise. As you well know, for security
purposes, do not, I repeat, DO NOT open any e-mail messages that
you do not recognize the sender. Opening that e-mail message may
compromise your confidentiality and security. It may be
detrimental to your financial well being. PayPal and eBay
are the top sites used in this fraudulent practice. The number one
targeted bank is Citibank. Senders pretending to be
representatives from these trusted and legitimate sites ask
you to log in to your account and update your financial
information. If you click on the link provided in the e-mail, you
will be sent to a bogus site and any information that you may
surrender will become the property of the fraudulent e-mailer. If
you receive such an e-mail from a company that you do not do
business, you can be sure that it is phishing in action. Another
tip, do not use the preview pane if your e-mail client offers one.
Some viruses, worms or other malicious threats can be launched by
appearing in the preview pane. To change the layout of your e-mail
software, under "View", click "Layout" and
deselect the "Show Preview Pane" button. An ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Too Strange, Weird
or Just Funny
A forty year old West
Bend, Wisconsin man has been arrested for placing lewd photographs
of his genitalia on the cars of women who parked at shopping
centers. He says that he thought that the women would get a kick
out of the pictures. He definitely needs counseling. I think that
he's the kind of man who would let pornography interfere with his
sexual relationship that I referred to in the Health,
Fitness and Lifestyle section of this Blog. Also, he seems
to be lacking an understanding and respect of women.
A corpse was involved
in a motorcycle accident in Tijuana, Mexico. The driver of the
motorcycle fled the scene when approached by an oncoming police
officer. He left his passenger, the corpse of a man who had been
dead for some time. Don't asked me
why he was riding around with a corpse. Something doesn't sound
right here.
A Miami County,
Indiana women used stolen credit cards to get her husband out of
jail and ended up in the slammer herself. Not only was this an
unlawful and unethical act, but it was stupid.
|
|
