See You On Rooftops

Post War

The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment;
the moth will eat them up.

- Isaiah 50:7-9

Time Time Time See Whats Become Of Me

And before you know it is October when the last time you looked it was July...Sometimes the world spins faster than Bill O'Reilly defending his masters, the Republican Noise Machine.
Al Gore, since having his presidency stolen, due to some uncounted votes- continues to serve his country with honor, and has been awarded a Nobel Prize. And the Corporate Interest Noise Machine came out against him with a Passion unseen since that Mel Gibson movie...
And on the subjects of zealots...InfoCision is raking in the money for Rod Parsley and their second favorite viewing channel, after Fox News, The Inspiration Network.
Rod seems to be sharpening his rhetorical skills for the Election Season...preparing his followers to dial the InfoCision phone lines to give him their almighty dollar, to fight against those that threaten America. Or maybe Rod just wants a new private jet to vacation on or just some work done on one of mansions.

InfoCision did lose a part of its past with the death of Rex Humbard. Rex Humbard Ministries gave birth to InfoCision Management Corporation. It was interesting that the great faith healer Benny Hinn was at the services. If only Benny used his powers to heal Rex...Maybe Rex did not have enough faith for the Benny Hinn power to work...Maybe Rex did not give enough money to Hinn for the Healing Miracle to work. More likely the InfoCision employee taking Rex's call for Benny Hinn Ministries typed Rex's name and address wrong and the Miracle Healing went to someone else...
Another InfoCision client, James Dobson and his group, Focus On The Family has been in up in arms over the Republican Parties candidates for president. James lost his religion over the current group republican of candidates running for president, threatening to form a Third Party challenge with a candidate that practices a Dobson approved brand of Christianity. One could draw the conclusion Erik Prince would be his ideal of a president, considering the long close ties the two have...The truth will come out of the closet in due time.

With all the political religious battles going here- the religious battles raging in the Middle East go almost unnoticed. Israel performed a air strike against Syria. At the same time it is stealing the land of the Palestinians, all in the name of preserving a "Jewish" state. It has been said what the Palestinians need is a Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton to make the rounds on the talk shows decrying how racist it is to have state only for one race of people.
But Jesse and Al are busy defending the Jena 6. 6 criminals, who happened to be black who nearly killed a innocent man, who happened to be white, and nearly forgotten. In the blur and noise of the lights and cameras of the talk shows passing for news...and before we know it, the calendar will read 2008....

Anything For A Vote

From Anything for a Vote by Joseph Cummins, the top five "dirtiest" presidential campaigns of all time:

5. 1972: Richard Nixon vs. George McGovern -- The Republican incumbent Nixon brought out all the heavy guns here -- dirty tricks to sow divisiveness among Democratic incumbents in the primaries, race-baiting, IRS intimidation of Democratic big wigs, the Enemies List, press manipulation, and, of course, the Watergate burglary by the Special Investigations Unit, aka "the Plumbers."

4. 1800: Thomas Jefferson vs. John Adams -- Wayback in only the third election ever held in this country, Thomas Jefferson of the Republicans and John Adams of the Federalists went at it tooth and nail, with Republicans hiring hack writers to attack the incumbent Adams as a "hideous hermaphroditical character." whatever that means, and Federalsts claiming that Jefferson slept with slaves. The close election was thrown into the House of Representatives, where Jefferson almost certainly made a secret deal to win it all.

3. 2000: George W. Bush vs. Al Gore -- Surprisingly, not the low-down dirtiest election on record, but pretty bad, with Republicans acting in a truly narrow, partisan fashion at every stage to subvert the democratic process and hand victory to George W. Bush.

2. 1964: Lyndon Johnson vs. Barry Goldwater -- Not as well know as Nixon's 1972 dirty tricks election, Johnson's 1964 win over Goldwater featured the cynical manufacturing of anti-Goldwater stories planted with gullible reporters; children's coloring books portraying Goldwater as a Klansman; CIA invasion of Goldwater's campaign; and FBI bugging of Goldwater's campaign plane.

1. 1876: Rutherford Hayes vs. Samuel Tilden -- This is the granddaddy of them all: a truly stolen election in which Republicans turned defeat into victory for Rutherford Hayes by counting Democratic votes as their own in three Southern states. Both parties used violence to intimidate former black slaves for their votes. And not to mention that Republicans extorted 2% of the salaries of Federal employees to aid in their campaign efforts, or that Democrats accused Hayes of shooting his mother and robbing the dead, or that Republicans claimed that Samuel Tilden suffered from venereal disease.

Quote of the Day

"Fifteen years ago, I might have had a very different vision for a night like this -- that I would be the former first lady, perhaps introducing Bill Clinton as he ran for Congress."

-- Niki Tsongas (D), quoted by the Boston Globe, introducing Bill Clinton at a rally for her congressional race last night.

America- Home Of The Afraid

"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation." - Adolph Hitler (Mein Kampf)

The above statement has been said by our current political leaders at one time or another. Most recently in regard to the case of Lane Mikaloff. Lane Mikaloff served 16 years in prison for rape. In November of 2002 He was paroled by the State of Ohio and has been living in a house his family has owned for half a century. He finished serving his parole in 2004.In 2005, the State of Ohio sent him a letter telling him he had to vacate his house because he was violating a law that was effective in 2003 that prohibits sex offenders from living within a 1000 feet of a school The law, declared our leaders, such as Summit County Prosecutor Sheri Bevan Walsh protects our children. On September 5, 2007 Judge James Gwin of the U.S. District Court found the 1,000-foot restriction to be an unconstitutional punishment. Gwin wrote the state can't block sex offenders from living near schools if they committed their crime before legislators enacted the ban in 2003.

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh plans to appeal the ruling.

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann argued that the decision does not affect anyone but Mikaloff. "This ruling is based on the unique set of facts and circumstances presented to the court by this plaintiff, and affects him alone," Dann said in a statement.

But David Singleton, executive director of the Cincinnati-based Ohio Justice and Policy Center, disagreed.

"That's like saying that Brown versus Board of Education only applied to the Brown plaintiff," he said, referring to the landmark case that barred segregation in public schools.

The case is a small victory for civil liberties as we approach the 6 year anniversary of 9/11/2001. A day that is so commonly used by our leaders to stir up fear. A day invoked when We the People so willingly gave up the rights with a little law called the Patriot Act. The very same rights our troops died for fighting Hitler in World War II.

It seems this day and age our elected officials rule through fear. If they can keep us scared, they can more easily control us. And it is so easy to pick a minority group to target. History is riddled with groups that our officials held up to be feared. People who look Arab are targeted because a group of God Fearing Saudi Arabians attacked us 6 years ago this week. Senator Joseph McCarthy had the talent of grabbing power through fear down to an art form through labeling people a Communist. Right now, our leaders use sex offenders as the chosen people to be the Face to Fear. They are a easy group to target because someone just out of prison does not have the resources to stand up to the power of the state. (Unless you are Cynthia George.)

We the People have the government we deserve. We decided long ago to give up holding our elected officials accountable. We chose to have sports command our attention more than the laws that are being passed, that we later complain about. We the people decide it is not necessary to fund public schools. We the people decided to give up our parenting rights and responsibility of keeping our children safe and gave them to our Fearless Leaders like Sheri Bevan Walsh, Alex Arshinkoff, Bob Ney, Bob Taft, George W Bush, Dick Cheney. So rally around the American Flag and put a new Support Our Troops bumper sticker on the SUV that were all made in China in preparation of Remembering 9/11. And be afraid...

Strange Days Indeed

These past few weeks have been strange days. Storms, political and otherwise, whipped across the landscape. And yet we go on. Sometimes just satisfied the winds have stopped blowing and breath that sigh of relief the damage happened to the other guy and not us.

The Akron Beacon Journal had a article a few weeks ago about some neighbors harassing another neighbor, who was a registered sex offender to the point where the police department encouraged him to press charges against his harassers. The neighbors say they are just protecting the children. The un-indicted criminal neighbors, are fearful they haven't been good parents and haven't taught their children that the monster does not always come in a scary disguise. The monster can come in a form as pretty as a beauty queen. It would be nice if, instead of going after those who have paid their debt to society, the neighbors went after the drug dealers; Those parents that serve alcohol to teenagers; The dead beat mom or dad that lives across the street; The welfare cheat or the drunk drivers or the speeders. Or better yet, if they just made sure none of those things were taking place in their own lives, imagine how nice their neighborhood could be to live in.

There will always people with the financial resources to quite literally get away with murder. Locally, we have former beauty queen Cynthia George as example "A", nationally we have former football hero OJ Simpson. Both went through the justice system. Both had their day in court. OJ actually went through both the criminal and the civil proceedings. OJ lost the civil case, he was found guilty of wrongful death. I wonder why his neighbors aren't placing pointed signs on their manicured lawns that read: Murderer lives there- He may do it again- Saw him with a young man and woman in his living room-. I wonder why his neighbors aren't scared for their lives and the lives of their children.

And what about the neighbors of Cynthia George? She was found guilty in a criminal case before being let loose on appeal. I haven't heard if she will go through the civil court. Who would want Cynthia George, a murderer for a neighbor? I guess the perk would be, if you are a neighbor of Cynthia's you would have a really nice house. But where is the outrage that a wealthy woman, convicted of murder, is now walking the same malls as us? What about the children? Maybe her neighbors too busy in the beauty salons to be worried their loved ones may fall victim to her wicked ways, and goodness why risk chipping a nail to place a sign in the yard warning passers by they just passed a evil doer's house.

Another notorious person has been back in the news: Nan Talese. She is the powerful editor and publisher that allowed author and liar James Frey to write A Million Little Pieces, and market it as a the truth, was in the news again, upset over her treatment on Oprah Winfrey. After Oprah confronted them about the fraud the committed with the book.
She still doesn't understand the harm she caused from robbing people of their money by telling them what they are buying is true story when it is lies. Even after being tried and convicted in the court of public opinion and even after reaching agreement to the outlines of an out court settlement that resulted from the class action lawsuit brought against her and James.

Cynthia, OJ, Nan and James, I wouldn't want to live next door to any of them. It is too bad there wasn't a law that required murderers and sneaky thieves who are let loose to register where they live their local law department. And require the local police department to post their address on the web. I would feel much, much safer knowing the address of the nearest convicted thief or murderer was in a neighborhood that was not my own.

Goodbye Norma Jean by Lee Strasberg

Marilyn Monroe was a legend.

In her own lifetime she created a myth of what a poor girl from a deprived background could attain. For the entire world she became a symbol of the eternal feminine.

But I have no words to describe the myth and the legend. I did not know this Marilyn Monroe.

We gathered here today, knew only Marilyn - a warm human being, impulsive and shy, sensitive and in fear of rejection, yet ever avid for life and reaching out for fulfillment. I will not insult the privacy of your memory of her - a privacy she sought and treasured - by trying to describe her whom you knew to you who knew her. In our memories of her she remains alive, not only a shadow on the screen or a glamorous personality.

For us Marilyn was a devoted and loyal friend, a colleague constantly reaching for perfection. We shared her pain and difficulties and some of her joys. She was a member of our family. It is difficult to accept the fact that her zest for life has been ended by this dreadful accident.

Despite the heights and brilliance she attained on the screen, she was planning for the future; she was looking forward to participating in the many exciting things which she planned. In her eyes and in mine her career was just beginning. The dream of her talent, which she had nurtured as a child, was not a mirage. When she first came to me I was amazed at the startling sensitivity which she possessed and which had remained fresh and undimmed, struggling to express itself despite the life to which she had been subjected. Others were as physically beautiful as she was, but there was obviously something more in her, something that people saw and recognized in her performances and with which they identified. She had a luminous quality - a combination of wistfulness, radiance, yearning - to set her apart and yet make everyone wish to be a part of it, to share in the childish naiveté which was so shy and yet so vibrant.
This quality was even more evident when she was in the stage. I am truly sorry that the public who loved her did not have the opportunity to see her as we did, in many of the roles that foreshadowed what she would have become. Without a doubt she would have been one of the really great actresses of the stage.

Now it is at an end. I hope her death will stir sympathy and understanding for a sensitive artist and a woman who brought joy and pleasure to the world.

I cannot say goodbye. Marilyn never liked goodbyes, but in the peculiar way she had of turning things around so that they faced reality - I will say au revoir. For the country to which she has gone, we must all someday visit.

New Horizons

Firestone Country Club

Shadow And Light

Alpha And Omega

The Future Is Wide Open

Some lights for July 4th-