"Melania Needs MELANIN (to Please the Mainstream Media)"

 

THIS BLOG ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN APRIL 2020 UNDER A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TITLE...

FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP will turn 50 tomorrow. She is probably the most attractive, and intelligent, First Lady this nation has ever had, but the Mainstream Media practically IGNORES her.

This wouldn't be so bad IF they hadn't fawned over the PREVIOUS First Lady, Michelle Obama, so much....praising her beauty and intelligence (which, if we're honest, comes nowhere CLOSE to Melania's.) Mrs. Trump LOVES THIS COUNTRY, also and that is something Michelle did NOT have as a virtue, to be sure.

Michelle turned 50 while her hubby was still in office in 2014, and you'd have thought it was the greatest event in modern history!!  Granted, the Coronavirus Crisis we're in NOW tends to inhibit large celebrations and dominates the news cycle with BAD news, but this is just an excuse for the Liberal MSM to do what they've ALWAYS done with Melania.......MINIMIZE and OVERLOOK her on her 50th tomorrow.

Al Sharpton once said "Everything in America is about Race" and I believe he was right because "even a broken clock is right twice a day."

So how is the fact that MICHELLE was so beloved and MELANIA is so HATED, even though Melania has SO much more going for her, to be accounted for?? Yes, SOME of it is because they hate her orange skinned hubby, but I'm taking The Sharpton Doctrine here: It's about Race. Michele got treated so well NOT primarily because she was worthy to be, but because the mostly white, self-hating Liberal Mainstream Media worked off a lot of their White Guilt via the Obamas.  I'm not saying Michelle wasn't outwardly attractive and nominally intelligent, mind you....I'm just saying if the Media loved HER so much they should be TEN times as excited about MELANIA.

They aren't.

Melania (and that orange-skinned hubby of hers) need MELANIN, before the Mainstream Media will fawn over HER, in my opinion. But sobeit!!

HAPPY 50th, Melania Trump!!!!

"Reagan and Trump: Two Great Leaders"

 

THIS BLOG WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ON MARCH 30th, 2020.

39 years ago today, President Ronald Reagan was shot, at point-blank range, by a would-be assassin. This was at the beginning of his first term, and Reagan was the first U.S. President to SURVIVE an assassination attempt.  He was also, at the time, the OLDEST President to assume office so therefore many interpreted his surviving as a MIRACLE FROM GOD. 

So did he.

Reagan believed that God spared his life because he was on a mission, and he was.  He sought to restore prayer in schools and to end abortion.  Under his leadership, the economy flourished and America was respected around the world again.  In 1984 he won re-election capturing 49 of 50 states, a huge contrast from the relatively thin margin of victory in the previous two elections. RONALD REAGAN UNITED AMERICA in an amazing way!!  And he never, ever used his own shooting as an excuse to try to confiscate legal firearms.

I believe that, as great as Reagan was, Donald Trump can be GREATER because things were worse when he took office (yes, Obama WAS even worse as a President than CARTER was...and he had EIGHT years to trash this nation....Carter only had FOUR.)  And Trump has overcome greater opposition, and hardship (like this Chinese Virus) that Reagan never had to face!! Thankfully, Trump has never been shot (yet) but he WAS older than Reagan when he assumed the Presidency and he HAS survived a bogus IMPEACHMENT ATTEMPT, if not a shooting.

We need to PRAY for our President and I, for one, am glad he's even WILLING to run for a second term.  Like Reagan, he LOVES AMERICA, and that's what drives him.

"Was There Bias Against Yoko Ono, Regarding The Beatles' Breakup?"

THERE WAS PREJUDICE AGAINST YELLOW-SKINNED PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY EVEN BEFORE CHINA UNLEASHED COVID-19!! THIS BLOG ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON FEB. 19th, 2020, BEFORE COVID REALLY HIT, AND IT EXPOSES THE AMERICAN MEDIA'S UNFAIR TREATMENT OF YOKO ONO. READ THE BLOG, INCLUDING MY CLOSING THOUGHTS, (IN CAPS), WHICH WERE ADDED TODAY. 

Singer JAMES TAYLOR has released a new memoir where he claims he was "a bad influence" on the Beatles by giving the group's founder, John Lennon, Opiates.  (That's Taylor and Lennon above, when they both lived in The Dakota apartment building in New York, in the '70s.) 

Read this link...


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/james-taylor-beatles-john-lennon-drugs-opiates-022015931.html

For 50 years now, MOST people have been blaming John's wife Yoko Ono SOLELY for the Beatles' demise. She and Lennon became an item in 1968, but that's when Taylor now said HE was hanging around Beatles' recording sessions (for "The White Album"), ALSO.  The link goes on to affirm that Lennon had a "Heroin addiction" around that time, and claims it led to a rift in the band that couldn't be healed.  TAYLOR had a Heroin addiction, AS WELL but all the media could do was blame John's "addiction" to YOKO for the Beatles' split-up, in 1970.  

And, for fifty years I've been hearing things like "Yoko made John CRAZY" (and there's no doubt that she is "out there" and DID influence him), but never let us forget that JAMES is the one who actually went into a mental hospital shortly after when, he now admits, he gave John drugs that he wasn't sure John had ever used before.

This all leads me now to three questions.

     1.) Is James saying all this in a memoir NOW because he's in his 70s and wants to clear his conscience of something, "set the record straight" while he can? (If so, "better late than never.")

     2.) Is this new confession of his ONLY intended to help "Sweet Baby James" sell his new memoir AND his new album that's coming out soon? (I hope it's NOT for this reason....only JAMES knows.)

     But most of all, Question # 3.) Has there been BIAS AGAINST YOKO ONO, unfairly blaming HER ONLY for the Beatles' breakup and hiding TAYLOR'S possible role in it?? 

"Loco" Yoko:   Talentless Japanese WOMAN who screeches and thinks it's "singing."

James:  Gifted Caucasian MALE with a smooth, silky voice that has led to a very successful, 50 year career.

BOTH of them got their "start" as "stars" via John Lennon / The Beatles.  And, I now think that BOTH of them share equal blame for The Beatles's DEMISE....though only YOKO has been blamed for an entire half-century.

Perhaps James Taylor should apologize to Yoko for not telling his story SOONER.  I am SICK of women getting all of the blame for things while MEN HIDE!! 

CLOSING THOUGHTS (ADDED TODAY): IN SEPTEMBER IT WILL BE THE 20th ANNIVERSARY OF 9-11 AND IN DECEMBER IT WILL BE THE 80th ANNIVERSARY OF PEARL HARBOR. IT'S TIME TO PUT THE JAPANESE SNEAK ATTACK OF PEARL HARBOR BEHIND US AND LET 9-11 BE A MORE RECENT EXAMPLE OF HOW WE NEED TO BE VIGILANT AGAINST SNEAKY ENEMIES!! STOP ASIAN VIOLENCE!! STOP HOLDING ALL JAPANESE ACCOUNTABLE FOR PEARL HARBOR AND STOP HOLDING ALL CHINESE PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE FOR COVID-19!!

" CANCEL CULTURE Comes for CINDERELLA"

 Recently, I happened to see a trailer for the 2021 version of “CINDERELLA” advertised during a game of “Words with Friends.” Did you know they are REMAKING THE “FAIRY GODMOTHER”....AS A ***MAN***??!! (That’s him in the picture...the black man). This is just the latest example of "CANCEL CULTURE" trying to undo the traditions, morals and heroes that have been with us since our youth.

Wise up, white people!! They made him black so that you wouldn’t have the guts to criticize the fact that they are calling a MAN a.....MOTHER!! And it’s all because so many of you are afraid to be called “Racist” that you’ll keep quiet about it, they can push whatever weird agenda they want on our kids because you’re afraid of what godless people say about you. Christians, “The fear of man brings a snare,” Scripture says!!

LET’S BE CLEAR.

1.) A man CANNOT be a Mother, a Godmother, a Grandmother or any OTHER kind of mother.

2.) STOP being intimidated from speaking out about moral issues because godlessness is very often being pushed via those that the majority are afraid to scrutinize and criticize. Barack Hussein Obama is a prime example, he pushed ALL kinds of godless things the average American doesn't believe in but he labelled any resistance as Racist. KAMALA will do the same when SHE gets to be President, she'll just add "Sexist" to "Racist." And....

3.) DON’T watch this trash and spread the word so that kids won’t be infected!! 

"JETER: Definitely a Leader, Definitely NOT a Cheater"

 

                      

THIS BLOG WAS WRITTEN IN JANUARY 2020. BECAUSE OF COVID, JETER HAS YET TO BE FORMALLY INSTALLED IN THE HALL OF FAME BUT, LORD WILLING, THAT CEREMONY IS SUPPOSED TO TAKE PLACE NEXT MONTH.

DEREK JETER HAS BEEN ELECTED TO BASEBALL'S HALL OF FAME TONIGHT.

The only other one to get voted in was LARRY WALKER, and Jeter was named on all of the ballots except ONE.  He therefore failed to be voted in UNANIMOUSLY like teammate Mariano Rivera was a year ago, but still he got into the Hall EASILY and DESERVEDLY.

Jeter spent all 20 seasons of his career with the YANKEES and was our CAPTAIN through many of them. He led by classy example, and the Yanks won five World Series titles with him on the team.

His STATS were amazing but, even more important in light of MLB's recent cheating scandals, Jeter was NEVER accused of cheating in any way, never in trouble with the law and ALWAYS, it seems, a good example of sportsmanship DESPITE having a burning drive to win and to excel.  He proves that you can gain your goal without losing your soul.

THEY SAY THE HALL OF FAME SHOULD BE ABOUT STATISTICAL ACHIEVEMENTS, NOT ABOUT CHARACTER and I agree with that.

But every once in awhile, a guy like DEREK JETER comes along and gives us BOTH!

"Dylan Deserves Benefit of the Doubt"

 Sorry, I refuse to call Bob Dylan "Guilty Until Proven Innocent" based on the 56-year old allegation of rape which (as far as we know) is the only one!! (If you didn't hear or read it yet, the 80 year old singer has been accused by a woman who was 12 in 1965 when the alleged rape occurred).

In Scripture, Potiphar's wife accused JOSEPH and he was thrown in jail unjustly though he was innocent.* An allegation by a woman against a man therefore does NOT automatically make someone guilty, and I'm NOT in favor of the accuser's name being hidden so that her credibility cannot be weighed. Suppose it's TAWANA BRAWLEY accusing Dylan, wouldn't THAT be relevant regarding how seriously to take the charges?? Of course it would, because Tawana falsely levelled rape charges against someone in the past.

It's simply UNFAIR how women are given Carte Blanche to accuse men these days and soil their reputations...often while THEY (the women) have impunity and IMMUNITY from scrutiny or consequences!!

If a man has CREDIBLE accusations against him (like Epstein and Cosby, Clinton and Cuomo had), I side with the women. All the time. But I'm sorry, THIS accusation could well be by a lady who read that Dylan got 300 mil for his song catalogue recently and wants to "shake him up and shake him down" for a chunk of it in an out-of-court settlement..

Bob Dylan deserves the benefit of the doubt like ALL men do until at lease 2 or 3 witnesses make the same accusation against him. That's BIBLICAL....not that most Americans care about such things anymore!!

* I know that God sovereignly ALLOWED Joseph to be put in jail unjustly...but God's Sovereignty does NOT negate man's responsibility!! The evil woman who falsely accused him is STILL accountable for her lies!!

"Yes, The 2020 Election Was Stolen"

THIS IS A GUEST EDITORIAL VIA "WORLD NET DAILY."

 Mentally travel back in time to a few days before the Nov. 3, 2020 election.

President Donald Trump was drawing massive overflow crowds to his daily rallies in cities across the nation, even holding five events in five different cities on the Sunday before Election Day. In every venue, the air was filled with thunderous chants of “Four more years,” “Trump! Trump! Trump!” and “USA! USA! USA!”

Indeed, Trump had made the USA energy-independent for the first time in 70 years, created more than 5 million jobs, reduced unemployment to below 4% and brought African-American unemployment to its lowest ever. He brought America’s southern border finally under control including construction of over 450 miles of border wall, cut taxes and burdensome regulations, raised household middleclass incomes and negotiated strong pro-American trade agreements in place of job-killing ones like NAFTA. Early in the COVID pandemic, he marshalled all the forces of government, the military and private business to join together to keep the mysterious new virus from overwhelming America’s hospitals, manufacturing needed ventilators, bringing military hospital ships to hard-hit areas, and launching “Operation Warp Speed” to develop a vaccine. Internationally, he stood up to China – something no other modern president has done – withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, destroyed the murderous ISIS caliphate, ratcheted down the nuclear threat from North Korea’s deranged dictator, moved the U.S. embassy in Israel to the capital Jerusalem, and brokered peace deals between Israel and five different Arab-Muslim countries, for which he was twice nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

All this while being attacked literally non-stop – including two corrupt impeachment trials – by Democrats, virtually the entire “mainstream media,” the powerful tech monopolies and the permanent “deep state,” particularly Washington’s scandalously weaponized federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

So, what about Trump’s challenger?

A shuffling, peevish and often confused Joe Biden attracted no more than 100 to 200 people to his pre-election rallies where he stumbled through short scripted speeches. His vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris, selected entirely for being a woman of color (Biden had committed publicly to choosing a woman VP and said he’d prefer one of color), turned out to be so jarringly repellant, even to Democrats, that she dropped out of the presidential race during the primaries, winning zero electoral votes.

Yet Biden and Harris won the 2020 election.

Since taking office in January, they have enabled an unprecedented tidal wave of illegal aliens, many COVID-positive, to freely enter the U.S. They have presided over an explosion of violent crime from coast to coast directly caused by Democrat policies like “defunding the police,” releasing incarcerated violent offenders and refusing to prosecute rioters, arsonists and shoplifters. They’ve reversed Trump’s unemployment gains and energy self-sufficiency, seriously inflated the nation’s currency by creating trillions of new dollars to fund astronomically expensive socialist spending programs, and weaponized COVID-19 to keep Americans fearful, insecure, poor and dependent on government handouts. They are even forcing America’s children to wear masks all day at school, even though children face virtually zero risk from the virus, while masks cause proven harm, both physically and psychologically. Biden and Harris have prioritized recruiting transgenders into the military while mandating the nation’s armed forces be force-fed anti-American “critical race theory” to make them hate the country they’re sworn to defend. Internationally, Biden and Harris have projected shocking weakness to America’s adversaries, from China to Russia to Iran, all of which predictably are becoming ever bolder in threatening their neighbors – and the U.S.

In short, just six months into the Biden-Harris administration, America is writhing in the grip of a full-scale Marxist political and cultural revolution.

Question: Did America’s voters really want this?

How is it possible that the vast American middle class – long blessed as a bastion of common sense, decency, rugged independence and Judeo-Christian sensibilities in a dark and largely godless world – could choose the chaos, disintegration, fear and hopelessness ushered in by Joe Biden, over the previous administration that was unquestionably pro-American, pro-liberty, pro-growth and pro-life?

In short, was the 2020 election truly fair? Or was it rigged?

That’s the sensational question that is thoroughly explored and definitively answered in the new issue of WND’s acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine. It is titled “YES, THE 2020 ELECTION WAS STOLEN: How Big Tech, Big Media, lying Democrats, deep staters and vote fraudsters cheated Trump – and America.”

"Thursday Is Not Just Thursday. It's THANKSGIVING"

 

                      

THIS BLOG WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN RIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING, 2019.

There's a scene in the very first "Rocky" movie where (as I recall) Adrian and Rocky were ice-skating on Thanksgiving night.  The broke and busted-up Rocky Balboa says something like "For YOU it's Thanksgiving, Adrian.  For me, it's just THURSDAY." 

And sadly, the punch-drunk pugilists' mindset reflects the mindset of MANY as Thanksgiving approaches again.  "It's just Thursday."

As Paul McCartney sang in quite another context, "It's just another day," regarding what used to be a SACRED holiday, a time of THINKING OF THANKING God in a special, concerted way for his many blessings.

And, for the most part, those who DO see the third Thursday in November as special now often consider it special because it's "Turkey Day," or a day just to watch football, or (more recently) "the beginning of Christmas." Soon, they'll have to be honest and say Thanksgiving is now the MIDDLE of The Christmas Season and the last day in their way before BLACK FRIDAY, when the floodgates open and all of America's Covetousness spills out.....sometimes trampling our fellow human beings in the process.

By nature, we fallen sinners don't LIKE to be thankful...which is why we NEED Thanksgiving to be PRESERVED for its original intent.

In sequels to the "Rocky" movie, The Rock expressed thanks to God MANY times.  One example is from "Rocky II" where Adrian, now his wife, came out of her coma. Also, he was thankful to God after their child was born and after he won the Championship Belt, and on and on and on. (I'm sure Thanksgiving Day was no longer "just Thursday" for The Italian Stallion after all of THOSE good things happened!!)

Yes, Rocky LEARNED to be thankful to God but the fact is, he should have been grateful the very night he said "it's just Thursday" to Adrian.  SEE, IT WAS HIS FIRST DATE WITH A WOMAN HE LIKED VERY MUCH, AND PROVIDENTIALLY HE HAD JUST BEEN SELECTED TO FIGHT THE WORLD CHAMPION FOR THE TITLE THOUGH HE WAS A NOBODY.  Frankly, instead of Thanksgiving being "just Thursday" to him, it should have been the greatest Thanksgiving of Rocky's life, to that point.

What's MY point?? Let us look hard to find the things WE can be thankful to God for, this Thursday...Thanksgiving Day!!  Are we alive?? Can we see and hear?? Can we get out of bed?? Are we FREE?? Do we have food to eat?? On and on and on.  In the movie, Rocky was blessed with much more BEFORE he was thankful but in real life, God doesn't usually give us more until we appreciate what we have.    We should be thankful EVERY day but let's begin this Thursday...this THANKSGIVING, if not BEFORE, even.

"Mary Jo: No 'Mojo'?"

 

THIS BLOG WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN AUGUST 2019.

My sincere sympathies to the Kennedy family at the death of Bobby's granddaughter, 22 year old SAOIRSE KENNEDY HILL, of an apparent overdose Thursday.  However, that being said, I am upset at how I've seen most of the Liberal news media handle (or, rather, MIShandle) this story.

I was getting a blood test yesterday morning and the TV was on in the Lab's waiting area...turned to a news broadcast from a local station I would never listen to voluntarily, at home. (Someone would have to break in and make me watch that station for its news by putting a gun to my back...and even THEN I might choose to be shot, Lol!!) Anyway, the commentator started talking about this story, and how Saoirse's family, the Kennedys, have had so many TRAGEDIES over the years, etc.

The phrase "The Kennedy Curse" came up again, of course.

Oh, how predictable.

The whole report morphed into another "Kennedy Curse" piece, as opposed to just telling us about the tragic death of the young lady who was BORN a Kennedy, you see.

JFK's and RFK's assassinations WERE tragedies, of course...I don't dispute that.  They were NATIONAL tragedies, in fact. And yes, because Saoirse was related to Bobby, I could see how JFK and RFK come into the current "picture."

But when the 20th anniversary of JFK Jr.'s death on the 16th of last month was brought up on that broadcast, I fully expected the 50th anniversary (July 19th) of TEDDY'S incident at Chappaquiddick to be brought up, also.

                                                                 .......It wasn't.

Not in the news broadcast *I* saw!!

The recitation of Tragedies stopped right THERE, at JFK, RFK and JFK, Jr. which is "funny," because didn't Teddy himself describe what happened as a....tragedy, 50 years ago??  Didn't HE reference "The unspeakable Kennedy Curse" in July of '69 just as freely as New Englanders used to speak of "The Curse of the Bambino" before the Red Sox won the World Series, in 2004??  True, Teddy didn't DIE like the other Kennedys I mentioned did...at least not from Chappaquiddick. I hear that.  But here's the REAL reason, in my opinion, that the Liberal news I watched, and the Liberal New York Times, left TEDDY out of their Histories of Kennedy Tragedies yesterday.

Mary Jo Kopechne (pictured above) is the reason.

SHE died at Chappaquiddick.

She wasn't a KENNEDY, but her death was tragic, then AND even now.  In my opinion, whenever the so-called "Kennedy Curse" is mentioned SHE should be mentioned because SHE died due to her relationship to Bobby (she was working on his Presidential campaign) AND Teddy (she was going to work on HIS campaign, in '72, before she got killed in his car.)

In my opinion, Teddy AND Mary Jo should have been mentioned along with the others in that broadcast I saw...but that's just me, I guess.

See, Mary Jo is "only" just the 28 year old woman who drowned in Teddy's car 50 years ago, under suspicious circumstances.  HER name has no "Mojo"....."Kopechne" doesn't have the MAGIC of "Kennedy," after all.  But even if her name lacks magic, her death, as part of the "Kennedy Curse," was tragic. And if Teddy were included in the Histories list, considering that HE survived Chappaquiddick, one might ask why he's the only one ON that Histories list who DID survive.  Young people the age of SAOIRSE might google it and learn this: that many say Teddy didn't die because he left Mary Jo to suffocate, trapped in that submerged car, rather than risk his life to try and save her.

"No Mojo" Mary Jo WASN'T saved.........and deliberately isn't remembered, for the most part.

"Whatever Happened to 'INNOCENT' Cartoons?"

 

Note: THIS BLOG IS REPRINTED FROM OCTOBER 2019.

So yesterday at about 3:30, I turned on the TV looking for the Yankees-Astros Playoff game, which was set to start at 4.  The TV was still on the channel where the OTHER Division Series was broadcast on the previous night, and I was accidentally exposed to the kind of cartoons kids can possibly watch after school, here in 2019.  It broke my heart.

WARNING: SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT I STUMBLED ON. The cartoon I witnessed depicted some punk boys using a DRONE to spy into the window of a girl's locker room, depicting the girls in various stages of nakedness.  I couldn't believe it!!

55-60 years ago when I was a kid, we could watch The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Woody Woodpecker, Magilla Gorilla, ALL kids of silly, innocent stuff after school....nothing like THAT immoral mess.

NOW look at the options "we" give these kids today, they can either play (violent) video games or watch (vile) cartoons after school....and in SCHOOL even, they are indoctrinated to accept perversion like the LGBT movement all day long.

And yes, in retrospect I know that SOME of the cartoons from the 60s had subliminal, sexual messages which only ADULTS might pick up on, but the trash today puts sin RIGHT IN OUR CHILDREN'S FACES WHERE IT WILL SOAK INTO THEIR MINDS AND DOWN INTO THEIR HEARTS.

And too many "parents" just allow their kids to drink it all in like a sponge because it keeps them QUIET.

Politicians lie all the time, but the biggest lie politicians of ALL parties tell us is that "our young people are the next generation that will restore greatness to America" or something like that.  My hope is in GOD, not in THESE kids, most (not all) of whom are "monsters-in-the-making." Unless God mercifully sends another revival, the future of this nation is NOT bright...I suspected this BEFORE I saw what kids in 2019 can watch after school.  And I'm SURE of it NOW.

Whatever happened to INNOCENT cartoons that these kids can watch? I thought it was bad when I raised MY three kids but this corrupt culture is even worse for my GRANDKIDS.

Even so, come Lord Jesus!!

"Trees!!"

THIS BLOG WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 12th, 2019. 

I'M REPOSTING IT NOW AS PART OF MY "SUMMER RERUNS" SERIES.

In my old age (Lord Willing, I'll officially be a senior citizen anywhere in America 4 months from today), I've been gradually realizing how much I love TREES.

For the longest time, I would never ADMIT I loved trees because my DAD (who was not a nice man) loved them passionately, and one of my goals in life was NOT to be like my father (twisted, huh?? But before you'd judge me, you had to know my DAD, Lol!!)

Anyway, on Christmas Day this year dad will be gone ten years, and it's taken me ABOUT that long to incrementally admit I love trees like HE did.

I first began to realize how much I love trees 5 years ago, when we drove up to NORTH Jersey (where we had moved from the previous fall) JUST to see the famous Cherry Blossoms in Branch Brook Park, in April.

Clearly, I also have a passion for BIRCH trees...I had the Brown Thrasher I drew for the paper this week sitting in one (above). 

This photo of Birches is presently the Cover Photo for my MAIN Facebook page (Public Domain photo.)

 And, in the kind providence of God, our new house is on a street with "Birch" in the name, even!!

  Come to think of it, some of my POEMS these past 4-5 years have been about trees, ALSO....I think they are on my OTHER Facebook page, called "Writing from Whiting."

Yesterday when I turned on my computer I saw the screen saver in the photo at the top of this blog.  I absolutely LOVE the fall foliage......"FALLIGE" as I call it!!  We don't see many trees that change colors down here where I live now, it's called THE PINELANDS for good reason...it's mostly Pines, with relatively few DECIDUOUS trees.  (That's ONE thing I miss about up north....trees with leaves that actually change colors!!  Down here in central Jersey it stays mostly GREEN in the fall, which is a bummer, but in WINTER when the other trees are "leavesless," the unchanging green of the Pines is an advantage.)

Anyway, because I miss the changing colors here in The Pinelands, I took that photo of my LOVELY computer screen yesterday.

And speaking of PINES, as I mentioned here on October 4th, the weekly paper printed my letter...

....and the store in question put up signs in their windows responding to my letter...

Their own website, and the TOWN'S, said they WERE leaving before I wrote the letter but maybe they changed their minds, who knows.  

Anyway, WRITING THAT LETTER complaining about the two amazing pines they cut down was something ELSE that helped me realize how much I love trees....and not be afraid to say so.

It was my open admission to myself that I still have SOMETHING in common with my dad, whose first and last names I bear, but whose character I reluctantly, but correctly, rejected.

Above: the Southern Pine Beetle caused one of the huge pine trees in our Church Grove to be taken down this week.  Someone made a cool CROSS out of part of it, and it's there, out in the Grove behind the building.  Now THAT is a good reason to fell a very large, ancient tree (not to make a STORE) and THIS is a neat way to use PART of the tree, showing good stewardship!!

And oh, I forgot....I'm even using TREES as an analogy for my Sunday School class this fall (above)!!

"Would 'Abbey Road' Make It, In 2019? / Babcia"

 

Note: These two blogs were originally written on the same day, September 26th, 2019.

Today is the 50th anniversary of the release of "Abbey Road," The Beatles LAST album recorded together (and many would say their BEST album recorded together.)  But would "Abbey Road" MAKE it, here in 2019?? I'm not so sure.

For starters, that  iconic COVER*.  It's problematic, here in 2019. 

See, there's John Lennon leading the group of three guys in DARK suits with a WHITE suit on.  The Politically Correct crowd of  white Liberals laden with White Guilt might find that OFFENSIVE and somehow an expression of  a secret "White Privilege" being expressed. CAN'T SELL OR PLAY IT, THEREFORE.

And the song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" on this album talks of someone killing someone with a hammer....can't have THAT.  (Hey, their PREVIOUS album, the "White Album," had a song "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," but we can't let these guys get away with White Privilege and Violence messages AGAIN, right??)

And besides, when you listen to the trash that passes as popular music these days, "Abbey Road" is TOO GOOD for 2019.  There's no RAP in it.

(I'm being facetious, of course, about the White Privilege and Violence.)  Around this time in 1969, by the way, rumors started flying that Paul McCartney was DEAD because he was walking with bare feet on this "Abbey Road" album cover (among many OTHER silly "clues.")

.

Well I just saw Paul on TV the other night and he's just as alive...and vain...as ever.  More alive than the possibility of "Abbey Road" selling millions of records were it released in 2019, in my opinion.

*Not only have many "covered" (recorded) Beatles' songs but this COVER has been "covered" (imitated and spoofed) hundreds of times over the years.

"Babcia"

It was 20 years ago today that my dear Babcia (Polish for "Grandmother") died.

I have MANY memories of her, but one stands out above all.

The year was 1986, I was scheduled to give my first-ever speech at a carpet cleaners' Convention (I had my own carpet cleaning business at the time.) I was nervous NOT ONLY because it was my first-ever speech, but it was to be in front of hundreds of my peers from around the nation and I'd be speaking AFTER Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, considered by many to be one of the greatest motivational speakers of our day.

To "prep" myself, I had a manuscript written out and asked family members to attend my "practice session." I TOLD THEM TO BOO ME, HECKLE ME, DISTRACT ME, INTERRUPT ME AND EVEN WALK OUT ON ME because I figured if I could get through my speech in THAT setting, I'd be a SMASH at the Convention where my audience would be receptive and attentive.  (After all, the Convention-goers were PAYING to hear me, Dr. Peale, and the several other speakers!!)

EVERYONE in my family who was gathered there gladly....heartily...did as I asked, except for one....Babcia.

Babci was uncharacteristically QUIET during my whole 20 minutes as I pushed through my speech, while everyone else HAPPILY and very LOUDLY complied with my wishes.  (You would have thought I paid THEM to razz me, Lol!!)

When my practice was over, all Babcia said was "Be yourself, my dear grandson.  Be yourself and you'll do fine."

See, she was different than the OTHERS who were there.  She was herself.

That was Babcia in a nutshell....she couldn't and wouldn't do anything to ever hurt me....even when I ASKED her to.

Well, God blessed me and I did VERY well in my first-ever speech, by all accounts.

And I'm not kidding, about 2 minutes into my speech when I saw the crowd hanging on every word I said, feeling that electrical current of excitement passing through my veins as I spoke, I heard Babcia's voice inside of me saying "Be yourself. Be yourself."

Yes, I needed the others to heckle me to PREP me to do well, but I needed my down-to-earth, no nonsense Babcia to GROUND me when it was obvious that, with God's help I was doing very well.

I realized that day that God had given me a gift to speak publicly and I've spoken, and preached, many times since then.

And thanks to the BABCIA God had given me for the first 44 years of my life, I learned to "be myself," for which I'm thankful.