What Kind of Democrat Will Arlen Spector Be?

People from the liberal end of the political spectrum are skeptical of Sen. Spector in his new role as a Democrat. I can't blame them. He does not support the Employee Free Choice Act and he does not support the nomination of Dawn Johnson as Assistant Attorney
General. But, he has voted for Pres. Obama's Stimulus Bill. He was only one of three Republicans who did in the Senate. As a Democrat in Pennsylvania, he has the chance to be re-elected to the Senate next year with full support from the President and the Democratic Party. But, there is no guarantee he will be part of that 60-vote block the Democrats need. There are two senators from Arkansas who don't always vote along with the party for fear of Wal-Mart, the business interest and the farming interest turning against them. Sen. Blanche Lincoln does not support EFCA. So, the change that Sen. Arlen Spector made will not change a thing. EFCA may still end up getting killed in the Senate and never to make it to Pres. Obama's desk to sign it into law. Health care reform and the right for workers to from a union are reality if the Democrats don't blow it. The Republicans are fading into Southern extreme land and what an opportunity the Democrats have to bring single payer health care to the American people and better jobs for more working Americans to become part of the middle class again. Don't blow it!

The Bridge Builder

"An Old Man, going a lone highway,
Came at evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The Old Man crossed in the twilight dim
That sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when he reached the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.

"'Old Man' said a fellow pilgrim near,
'You are wasting strength in building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build you a bridge at the eventide?'

"The builder lifted his old gray head.
'Good friend, in the path I have come,' he said,
'There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.'"

The Old Man's Stew

There was an old man from Arkansas,
Who lived on beer and cole slaw -
So much for his energy -
Those from the clergy
Say if he doesn't stop, he will flaw.

He likes to go to the Midtown Bar;
He travels there in his car -
This is where he fades
Until the night invades,
Drinking from a jar above par.

He used to be very smart,
Just as much as Mozart -
So much for his abuse
Not including his excuse,
He acts as if he's been split apart.

How much booze can one carry,
He spends time there six days a week,
For the rest of his life he seeks
To spend his precious time
Way passed his prime,
It's a wonder he stands on his own two feet.

Alcohol is the old man's foe
Now he has become another John Doe,
Instead he should be out fishing
Rather than inside drinking,
Enjoying a waly day at the voe.

But the old man has got to have his stew,
Enough so he could smell the morning dew,
He has these hunches
To drink bunches
To please the very few.

He still attends the bar,
Drinking from a jar,
With plenty of beer
Without a good career,
As a retired professor who no longer sees the stars.

Afro-Ecuadorians battle against racism 23 Apr 09

This is one tremendous report that is not covered on the major American networks.

The Ed Show: Leo Gerard on the Need for a U.S. Manufacturing Base

Save the Auto Industry! We must not let it shut down!
Save the appliance industry! We have seen more good jobs in this industry go to places like Mexico and China! Pres. Obama, we voted for change and we want it now! A country like our without a strong manufacturing base cannot stand!

Should the Bush team be prosecuted now?

My view is that, yes, they should be prosecuted, but not now. There is too much on Pres. Obama's plate, like the economy, the environment, health care, the two wars, a possible Taliban takeover of Islamabad according to Al-Jazeera English; it can backfire on him. If he gets too far to the left and pursues this, it could strengthen the GOP and looking at what they have right now, God help us all! I personally want the economy to pick up and start climbing back again. People I know who have been laid off from their jobs are people I like to see return back to their jobs. This is the issue with me right now. Do these things first and then, later on, see about doing a prosecution.
Of course, it is up to Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to pursue the prosecution, but for those on the left, don't get your hopes up and don't be surprised if he doesn't pursue this. People out there are still hurting. Some of them show up at tea-bagging rallies who, otherwise, would be more supportive of the new administration if they didn't lose their job. It sounds like to me that the President may need to do more traveling here in this country to see what is going on with the people instead of going overseas to meet with leaders nobody here wants to have anything to do with. I'm just saying. I voted for Obama and I still support him, but he, as president, could risk losing his Democratic Congress like Clinton and face two terms dealing with gridlock and not get nothing done in regards to health care, the environment, alternative energy, creating jobs, etc., if he steps in too soon to prosecute the Bush team. Do it much later.

Nothing Important

I have nothing important to say but this;
A message to Pres. Obama to Trea. Sec. Geithner,
Quit ass-kissing Wall Street and quit giving them
the damn TARP money!
If this is not trickle-down economics, then I don't
know what it is!

Some Evangelicals Are Worried

Some evangelicals are worried, because they think the new Homeland Security Department is going after them. They think they are the terrorists, according to what they believe the DHS is implying. Nothing can be further from the truth. This is how well FOX News can feed misinformation to the public. If it is not them, then it must be coming from World Net Daily or the American Family Association. The alarm from the DHS is over the potential, future Timothy McVeighs that are out there. A man kills three police officers over what he fears the Obama Administration might do, such as take away his assault weapons. A man locally goes to the airport to steal a small airplane and got caught. Why would he want to steal a plane? Because he believes Pres. Obama is the anti-Christ and he wanted to get away from him. He wanted to take the plane to Israel to share with the people over there his prophesy. Isn't these the two reasons out of many reasons why the DHS is on alert? What is happening to the Christian community? I am not joining up with the wingnuts. Are many Christians signing up with the wingnuts? Do Christians not research these things out? Why do they fear Obama so much? There was more to fear from Bush than there was from Obama! The economic situation we're in started to happen while Bush was in power. He signed the bill to give the big banks the TARP money. Gasoline was sky high while he was in office. This caused the economic meltdown and Obama inherited this mess. The fear of more war was a possibility under Bush; the possible invasion of Iran! This could've happened. Some evangelicals want to have me believe this country was better off under Bush than it is today under Obama? Are they wanting to convince me that Sarah Palin would have been better, a candidate who could have been one step away from the White House if something catastrophically happened to McCain? They are being lied to, but by whom? They believe their kids can't pray in school. No, they can pray. The courts ruled out sponsored religious worship in school. According to Americans United, "students have a right to pray or to discuss their religious views with their peers so as long as they are not disruptive." But, at the same time, "public schools are prohibited from sponsoring worship or pressuring students to pray, meditate, read religious texts or take part in other religious activities." The average evangelical Christian is believed to think that prayer is prohibited and this is what they're told by their leaders. I don't mean to get into this today. The new Obama Administration knows that we live in a very diversified society and there is a concern about some of our soldiers coming from Iraq after they were ordered to torture Iraqi prisoners in the most, barbaric ways possible, coming home to do acts like a Timothy McVeigh has done in 1995 because they don't like the Obama Administration. Also, there has been rumors about members of white supremacist groups joining the military. No evangelical Christian should worry about the government catching them. It is a concern about the growing rise of domestic terrorism and growing numbers of hate groups occurring in the land, according the the Southern Poverty Law Center.

I Read About the Local Tea Bagging Party

My town had one of those events. I never attended it, because I was busy. I would read about it in the local paper. There is quote in it that is classic from one of the speakers at the rally. A guy named Gene gets up to speak, rallying the anti-tax faithful against politicians and Obama who they target for all of those woes of national debt. He gets up and speak saying and I quote, "How did big government and spenders get elected?" Gene asked the riff-raff, telling them they wouldn't like his answer. "Because you voted for them!" He says that they won't research the candidates, who may have a like-minded set of ideas like the crowd, and can't seem to get past the blow-dried hair and shiny teeth. He also had a lot to say about Fuckleberry Huckabee, which I have to agree. What is he doing participating in this riff-raff event. The former governor never found a tax he didn't like. Gene follows Fox News and this is where he has to be careful. But, maybe from his research he found, Fox had it right for once. He said that back in 2007, there was an article from Fox that claimed that Fuckleberry Huckabee increased taxes in Arkansas more than Bubba Bill Clinton. But, this was before Fox News decided they wasn't going to be "Fair and Balanced" anymore and become what it is today, an anti-Pres. Obama, right-wing, chatter box network. Other than that, the local tea party was more partisan for the GOP. Gene spoke as an unrepentant independent who did not care what would happen to him even if this mean crowd of tax protesters turned against him. I did not go to this rally, but if I did, I would blame this crowd of losers how they didn't stand behind hard-working people when the jobs were about to leave and how they kept voting for these politicians that did nothing for us down here on Main Street. But, it would give me nothing more than a hot temper and high blood pressure. It will not be worth risking my health to speak to this riff-raff.

Let's call the Tea Parties for What They Really Are

They are a big joke. They are actually complaining about taxation with representation. They are ignorantly protesting the bailouts, the TARP, that former Pres. Bush signed into law last fall, while at the same, they are protesting against socialism and against Pres. Obama, with an image of him wearing a Mao Tse-Tung hat. The GOP is behind this riff-raff, although what these tea baggers are protesting is what the GOP has been responsible for. Pres. Obama wants a middle-class tax cut and to raise the tax on the top 2%, bring the rate back to what it was when Ronald Reagan was President! And these guys protest over that? And these same people are not happy to see a Navy captain get rescued from those Somali pirates? They actually wanted Obama to fail in this venture? They want to blame the high taxes and the bailouts on Pres. Obama when he actually had nothing to do with it? It's funny. This charade is all about Republicans protesting what has been done in the last, oh, 8 to 16 years, by Republicans! I am hoping nobody gets hurt by these stupid protests. Do these people have jobs? How do they find the time? If any of them are making well over $250,000 a year and own lots of land, I can see why they may protest. But, these are not. This may be from the disgruntled who are unemployed, which makes it pretty bad. This is why the economy needs a big fix and soon!

A New Blog Has Been Created

Bismillah Arrahman Arraheem

I have decided to publish a new blog. It will be unlike this blog. It will be entirely published in Spanish. In this blog, I will from time to time post poems I have saved for many years from a course I have taken in Mexico. Also, there will be poems I will post that are written by Pablo Naruda and others written by Octavio Paz. I plan to publish articles, and I plan to do a little work of my own and work I have done that has not been shared with the public. All will be published in Spanish at the web site called El Blog de Gunter .

The Most Gracious - Qur'an Recitation - Ar-Rahman

Taliban threats put Islamabad on high alert - 10 Apr 09

Have you had this happen to you?

I purchased an Emerson HDTV this time last year and I bought it at Wal-Mart. Lo and behold, the TV goes out this week. It is believed to be the censors that went out. If you turn the TV on, the picture nevers comes on, and it goes back off on stand by. Luckily, I have the two-year warranty. But, I have to wait for a box to arrive at my address to box the TV inside and ship it through UPS. It won't cost me a thing since I've paid for the warranty. And after it shipped, who know how long it will be before I get it back all fixed and ready to use. I don't like this arrangement. I have made a feedback to Wal-Mart concerning this. Their policy is that if something went wrong with the TV in a 90 day period after the purchase, it's the store's responsibility. After 90 days, it's not and I have to call the 1-800 number for outside service. This policy stinks. Why can't it the store's responsibility within the 2-year warranty? Why can't I have it fixed now? This stinks. I paid for a $600 TV set and it goes out in almost a year? Have you had this happen to you? My advice. Never buy from Wal-Mart's electronics store. If you do, you need to go ahead and buy the 2 year warranty or you will be out of luck, and it will cost you a bundle to get a local repairman to fix it. I am using the warranty and when I ship the broken TV, I will have to wait and see if it will be fixed. In the meantime, I do still have a TV, just not the big TV. I am going along with it, but I am very dissatisfied with Wal-Mart, the very enterprise that scares Sen. Blanche Lincoln from supporting EFCA.

Certain Issues Just Don't Have a Place in Modern Time

Today, I erased three posts I've made last month on a preacher who, I believe, made a bamboozle of a comment that would fit into the times 100 years ago, but doesn't have a place in this modern time when he spoke out against interracial heterosexual marriage at the end of his sermon. I had to admit. I was furious. I attacked the person on these three posts, called him dumb, and I did it because I felt he was wrong. What is the big fuss? Two people get together, fall in love, get married, has some kids, and live a miserable life. They are not doing anything that is different. Most religious faiths support marriage between a man and a woman and that's all. They don't support polygamous marriage or same-sex marriage. Most leaders of religious institutions speak out against that. Of course, in these modern times, they say nothing about relationships outside of marriage or "shacking up." Strange! But, it seems to me when someone says that he opposes interracial marriage, I wonder what else in regards to race he opposes. Does he oppose integration of different peoples in a society? Does he want the return of Jim Crow laws? Does he not want his people to associate and make friends with other people? Does he dislike certain kinds of music and punishes his kids for listening to it because the artists are of a different race or nationality? Is he a separatist? NO religious institution should have him as their leader, unless they risk losing members and then, ceasing to exist. There are now plenty of people and children growing up who are of mixed backgrounds. Jim Crow does not have a place in religion today.

Outcry as North Korea launches rocket - 06 April 09

Did you know that a halo appeared over the moon on Kim Jong-il's birthday? It said so in the North Korean Press. So, I guess if this is claimed, then it must be true. NOT!

Pres. Obama in Europe

So far from watching the tube, I am pleased with Pres. Obama and the first lady, Michelle Obama and the U.S. looks good to me and to the rest of the world. Pres. Obama towers over
French Pres. Sarkozy and both Obamas tower over the Queen of England. We are standing tall
once again. It looks like we are increasing our presence in Afghanistan, because, as he tells the French, al-Qaida is still a threat. There should be more troops there, but, at the same time, having too many troops may cause a reaction from the Taliban and they will recruit more troops of their own, making the situation in Afghanistan very volatile. Other NATO countries must also bring more of their troops to Afghanistan. America should not go into it alone. But, also with a combined force similar to what it was in Kosovo in 1999, we must not have too many troops there. There is a concern what will happen if we have too many troops there; a possibility of it backfiring on us as we search for Bin Laden. There is also a concern that al-Qaida will go to other safe havens around the world after we have established a presence in Afghanistan. They will go to Somalia or to Indonesia. The hunting for terrorists may need to be a police action with cooperation with other NATO countries. I appreciate Pres. Obama's leadership. He doesn't rub shoulders like former Pres. Bush did when Bush rub the shoulders of the German chancellor. How embarrassing he was to this country. It is good to have a President who will not embarrass us like that. For that, I am quite pleased.

My Response to RC from Smithtown

The Copy Editor and the College Student with English Skills is Me, Myself, and I. I am neither a copy editor or a college student. I am a former college student. But, I work in the manufacturing industry.

I am thinking of starting a Spanish blog soon. This blog was originally supposed to be a Spanish blog, but other issues got in the way, because I was doing extensive research on religion, especially Islam during the time.

And "Me, Myself, and I" is a song performed by De La Soul.

To hell with King Fahd

"The Democratic system that is predominant in the world is not a suitable system for the peoples of our region ....THe system of free elections is not suitable to our country (Saudi Arabia)."
-King Fahd