Racism in America

I, like many others, have been wondering.... How is it that only White People are Racists ???? Some White Guy named Beck, just had a rally in Washington D.C. the other day. The News Media reports that Mr. Beck (can't remember his first name) who is some radio personality, was sponsored by or was representing the Tea Party Movement. I have been aware of this organization, but have payed about as much attention to it as I have of any other political movement that I have survived, in my lifetime. The 'Media' felt that they had to spend as much time reporting on Mr. Beck holding this rally on the same day as Martin Luther King's "I had a dream...." speech. Not only that, he would be standing within feet of where MLK stood when he gave the speech. The 'Media' then goes on with a synopsis of his speech, which was attempting to tell America that we need to basically get a hold of ourselves and be responsible for our own actions. To take pride in being an American and to return to the American Values of honesty, respect and to be law abiding citizens. He even talked about looking toward religion, getting on your knees and praying AND to let your children SEE YOU on your knees and praying. Personally, I am not a religious man, but, if that is what it takes to get people to return to American Values, then that is what we need to do. They report that Mr. Beck gave his speech like "the Showman that he is...."
Now, because the 'Media' does not want to appear to be Racist, they have to report that the Honorable Al Sharpton sponsored his own 'Rally'. They show him in his typical posture, ranting and raving on how "THEY CANNOT TAKE THIS DAY AWAY FROM US !!!!!", and "HOW DARE THEY BE SO DISRESPECTFUL" and on and on. Mr. Sharpton got equal, if not more time to spew his "DOWN WITH WHITEY" speech that he has been harping on for more years than I care to remember. The 'Media' gave Mr. Sharpton not such discriptors that they tagged Mr. Beck with. Am I really the only one that sees something wrong with this ????
I guess all White People are just so racist that we too 'Have a Dream'. To return to the American ways of honesty and respect. But alas.... Al Sharpton and people like him, would rather continue an atmosphere of racial tension. After all.... all you White People owe ALL the Black People.

I've been preoccupied lately. I just love the monopoly that the Utility Companies have in America. My Monroe County Water Authority decided to replace the water lines on my street.
I have been rudely awakened every morning for the last 3 weeks, at 6:30am by the sound of Bulldozers, Backhoes, and Dump Trucks. It's nice to know that they are punctual with the start of their day, but it's aggravating when they quit at 3pm after being my alarm clock.
They then decided to follow up their rudeness by ending with blowing up the line that supplies water to my house. They then tell me that they are going to connect to my house with a garden hose, and disappear like thieves. I am expecting them to return to correct the problem. But NOOOOOO !!!!! Two Days later I recieve a letter from them, telling me that it is "MY" responsiblity to repair the water line. So I call a Plumbing Contractor and am given an estimate for the repairs to be SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS !!!!!
I have been told by my contactor that they do this quite often, knowing full well that they are incurring a huge expense on the home owner. Personally, I would not be able to sleep at night knowing that I caused ANY finacial problems for another person. I will attempt to obtain an attorney and sue for my costs. More than likely, I will find that I don't have a leg to stand on. How nice, that our Utility Companies have so much power over us Little People. They must be very proud of themselves.

Dirt Track Stock Car Racing

The heart of Stock Car Racing in America, are the thousands of Dirt Racetracks that are throughout the country. Not far from the property that I hunt, in the Southern Tier of New York State, is a wonderful Racetrack. Woodhull Raceway. The scenery around the track is beautiful and the racing is as exciting as you will find. It's about the best entertainment you can find, on a Saturday night, with your cloths on. Lots of color, dust and noise. Bumpin', Bangin' and trading paint. You will see some cars with pretty cool paint jobs or hand painted with duct tape numbers, and don't let the appearence of the car fool you. Anybody can win.

If not for Ugliness there would be No Beauty

I have no idea what the biological name for these two weeds would be. I found them yesterday next to Henner Pond. I believe they are both weeds of some sort, and it is obvious that one is more appealing than the other, and it reminded me of a thought that I have had for most of my life. "If it were not for ugly, there would be no beauty." Like how beautiful and English Bulldog is, and how people would say that they have 'a face that only a Mother could love.' We should embrace the ugliness of the world with the same joy that we embrace beauty.

My gift.....
I apparently have this special gift of always choosing the wrong queue line. If I'm at the Super Market and there are 10 lines with 5 people in each, and one line with 2 people, I will choose the line with two people. Without fail, the person in fromt of me will have some sort of problem at the register. They don't have enough money, or they have to try 4 credit cards before they find on that works, or they have to write a check, or they need a price check, or they begin an arguement with the cashier about the price. It is always something. I have actually been directed by a store employee to another line that just opened up, to find that the new cashier cannot access their register. Meanwhile, every other line in the store has been checked out, and new lines have formed.
If I am on a toll road, I can unerringly pick the line that everyone in front of me needs to ask directions to and address that is 60 miles away. Again, all the other lines will empty out and 10 more cars have exited the toll booths before I am able to pass through.
I have arrived at a doctors office on the appointed time and sat there for an hour or more, while the entire waiting room has been taken care of, and not only that, people that come in behind me are taken care of before my name is called.
Am I the only one ??????????

Religion, Life and Death

Among the many ideas that I have, I look at Religion, Life and Death a bit differently than most people. I consider myself an Athiest. I do not believe in any God, or even a 'Life Force'. My Dad insisted that my brother and I discover religion on our own, and particularly disliked my Grandmother's (Mom's Mom) introducing Catholosism to us. Grandma was a very devout Catholic and practiced her religion until the day she died. She was one of the original 'modern women'. She tried to keep abreast of the latest fashion and design of the day. I remember she had a Packard Convertable, that my brother and I loved to ride around in, with the top down. Grandma divorced Grandpa when my Mom was 2 years old, and I never did meet the man, in my life. Because divorce was such a taboo in 1931, Grandma was 'Excommunicated' from the Catholic Church. I know that in the year 2010 it sounds kind of silly for an entire religion to condemn my Grandmother from practicing her religion, just because she divorced a man that was hard to live with. Even though, as I understand it, he was an alcoholic womanizer and petty criminal. According to the Pope and the Catholic Church, she was no longer recognized as a human being in the eyes of the church. Grandma spent the rest of her life moving around to find a Catholic Church she could worship in. Eventually they would discover that she was 'Excommunicated' and ask her to 'NOT' enter that church. She was uninvited to more Catholic Churchs than I can count, and this woman remained a devout Catholic. Apparantly their 'forgiving God' could not forgive the 'sin' of divorce. Am I the only one that sees the ignorance of treating my Grandmother so shabbily.
I became involved with the Protestant religion in order to play Basketball in a Church League. I attended church, every Sunday from about age 10 to 15. I enjoyed the sermons, singing in the choir and actually believed throughout this time. Every Sunday my Mom and Dad gave me 25 or 50 cents to put in the tray. Many times it was money that should have been used for household things that we would do without, to give to the Church. I began to realize that three or four times a year, the whole Sunday Sermon was about 'digging deeper' to give to the church because the church needed money. I had been to the ministers house and had helped one move out and another move in during this time. The minister and his family lived in one of the nicest and biggest homes in my village. He and his family always had new shoes and clothing etc. that most of the rest of us could never be able to afford, yet here is this minister telling us that we need to dig deeper and give. After a number of 'Dig Deeper' sermons, I realized that I did not have to pay someone to believe in God. I stopped attending church and have lived the rest of my life in a more devoutly religious manner than any so-called 'Religious God Fearing' person ever has. I lived by being an honest, responsible member of society.
It was much later in my life,that I realized that I do not like people who make a living by simply speaking. Ministers, Preachers and Priests. They make money by talking. By taking their Bibles and making you believe in a God that you have never seen or never heard. This all knowing and seeing being of pureness. And yet, for all of eternity there have been countless wars based on the premise that "My GOD is better than your god, so therefore I KILL YOU..."
I say, WHAT !!!??? What God, from any Bible, would allow War ?? What God would allow so much pain and suffering throughout the world ??
Life and Death are the only miracles in this world. I am born, and I am me. My world is my life, and when I die, that world ends. I have witnessed the death of many forms of life, including humans. I have looked into the eyes of death. Death is NEVER pretty. I see the struggle to live, and then it just stops. There is nothing after. There is no Heaven. Hell is what we live, and that's it. When we die, our world ENDS. Therefore, we ARE God. At that point, as far as I am concerned, you can take whatever is good... Burn the rest.... and throw it in the nearest garbage can. That is IT.

These are the two faces that I see the most. I spend WAY too much time alone. I have been dealing with depression for many years. With some counselling, medications and these two faces, I have been able to endure this life.

Tigger and Jezabelle are now 2 years old, and have lightened my life emensely. They have been great company and an endless form of entertainment. The truly unconditional love that I feel from them has been a new breath of life for me. I still need to attempt to connect with more humans but, I still find it hard to trust people. My life has been a long string of friends and lovers that have taken what they wanted and threw me aside. I know that the whole world is not like this, but the people of my past have left some pretty deep wounds. Did I tell you... I love my cats.......

Everybody wants to be me. But they don't want to bruise and they don't want to bleed..... -John Rich

It seems like everyone wants to be a Millionaire, and not only that but feel that they deserve to be a Millionaire. One of the many problems in this country is that nobody thinks they need to work for it. Through my 30 years at the Eastman Kodak Company, I came to the conclusion that there are two kinds of people that I have little tolerance for..... Those that CAN'T do their job and those that WON'T do their job. I had a friend that had a good example of the people who CAN'T do thier job. His job description was 'Machine Operator'. With this title, he knew that when he pushed a button, the machines job was to do A then B then C, etc. Meaning he knew not only what the machine does, but how it does it. There were others with the job title of 'Machine Operator' that would push the button, and if the machine didn't work, would throw their hands in the air and declare "I don't know what's wrong with this machine !!!", and then they would become the WON'T do their job people by leaving the machine for someone else to fix the machine. There are far too many people out there that have that 'someone else will do it' mentality, and too few 'people that will do it'.

I took this photograph while camping at Cedar Point SP between Clayton and Cape Vincent in October 2006. I have always been awed by the red sunrises or sunsets. They always appear to be such a spectacular event. The St. Lawrence River is a unique body of water, full of beauty and diversity. Cedar Point has a beach that is basically a large cove off of the river. The water that runs through it is always cold. The kind of cold that takes 5 or 10 minutes for your body to adjust to after you dive into it. I have gone swimming there when the water was so cold, your body doesn't adjust to the temprature, but would be quite refreshing on those hot humid days of July and August. I was able to spend alot of time there when I was a kid. I will never forget the cold water and the Bath House Concession Stand. All the macho teenage boys would be in there showing how manly they are by arm wrestling. Ahhh..... the good ole days.