Monday, January 18, 2010

Loneliness by Chris Littenberg....

The other night I came across a very nice girl from Israel. She was playing a couple hands of Texas Hold’em and then two men came into the room. These two men were young Palestinian men who made it clear with the room that the young girl from Israel wasn’t welcome by them. There is no reason for me to go into details but it did get to a point where the entire room was in an uproar. While seeing the room I came to wonder how lonely life can truly be.

I have wanted to write this post/blog like this for quite some time, but never knew what to say. I could go ahead and say we need to stop the fighting and let peace reside, but after seeing the anger and just meanness and hatred there is in the world that would never work. Fighting will not solve anything as long as hatred presides and until people realize that then there cannot be peace.

Here is a question…Why can’t we get along? Why do people have to hate each other? It’s not even a matter of wanting to hate them but having to hate them.

Hatred is a really hard thing to truly understand. I’m not going to go into religion with this because this has to do with human nature not religious views. This has to do with greed and lust and all of those things that make people just go crazy. You take everyone in the world and find something each of them doesn’t like about someone they dislike and see what it’s about. Palestinians and the Israelis are fighting over a city and they say it’s for their religion but they have been doing it for so long it is hard to believe that they aren’t just fighting because that’s what they were taught that they had to do.

Can you imagine if one of them decided that the life that is being sacrificed isn’t worth it? What would happen? Would the person be killed and in turn rallying others who have their doubts? What if you decided that the person you loath might have their own problems and does what they do because it’s their only reaction?

I understand greed, I understand hatred, I understand not even wanting to help someone because you don’t want to be uncomfortable. Trust me I do, but until the world stops looking out for itself and looks out for others life will stay the same.

SO here is another question…If you have a flashlight and there is someone in the dark would you not lend them the light or at least help them find their way out?

It is truly that easy… :)

Doing something nice for someone every day, just taking a moment in the world to stop and help someone. Not because someone told you to not because everyone else is doing it no…because you realize that life is soooo much more fulfilling when you help people without reward. Don’t expect to find a way that you benefit from helping someone. If you do then you’re not helping them you’re helping yourself.

Everyone needs a friend; everyone needs a shoulder to cry on (yeah guys to); it just takes the moment to step into the dark with them and together find the light.

During the arguing I watched the young girl just sit back and play the game. She didn’t say anything to the men she just sat there and took it. It made me realize how lucky I am to have friends of all different types how I live in a country where you don’t have a constant hatred. The things that people underestimate like friends, family, and freedom come at a high price and we are lucky as a country all around.

Help someone today, maybe even call someone you know who has had a difficult time recently and lend a light…

My views on the environment and climate change...

I know I might be in a minority here, but it bothers me that these Science boffins are all for cutting back on paper and what have you... they say (among many arguments) that the trees are not being replaced and therefor the world (o2 and stuff) suffers.

For instant I am constantly being told that "changing to paperless billing" by my bank account/credit card people will "save the environment" and stuff... I believe this to be a load of rubbish! I am of the opinion that it is only done to save THEMSELVES money, not me... THEM.

Here is why I think this, my parents ~ Dad especially ~ have been in the paper trade for the past 30 odd years. They have worked for at least two of the "big" paper companies here in the UK. (Robert Horn & Howard Smith) Most paper companies worth anything will use wood/trees from a Sustainable Forest. In other words for each tree cut down, three are planted in their place.


Many companies I am sure get their paper from other forests like this, and should do so more... I would like to see companies who think doing EVERYTHING online coming clean and being honest. Tell us that is it only to save YOU money, tell us that you get the cheapest paper going and cannot say where it comes from if this is the case... why not tell us where your paper comes from anyways?

While I do think that climate change is happening and is a problem, I do not want to be made to feel like I have to do stupid things to help out save your daft ass from messing it up in the first place! (humour there guys... but you get the idea) I will turn off things when I am not using it, I will try conserve energy more etc. I would do that anyway, but I happen to LIKE getting a bill through my door!

(I cannot always get onto my pc to get a bloody answer anyways! There's another thing that annoys me!!! We'll leave that for another time though...)

Passport Application by Kelly Blundred...

Be Warned........You'll read this.. involunterily nodding in approval and agreement..

Apparently, this was actually taken from a genuine passport application.

Dear Minister,

I'm in the process of renewing my passport but am at a total loss to understand or believe the hoops I am being asked to jump through.

How is it that Bert Smith of T.V. Rentals, Basingstoke has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a satellite dish from them back in 1994, and yet the Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date?

How come that nice West African immigrant chappy who comes round every Thursday night with his DVD rentals van can tell me every film or video I have had out since he started his business up eleven years ago, yet you still want me to remind you of my last three jobs, two of which were with contractors working for the government?

How come the T.V. detector van can tell if my T.V. is on, what channel I am watching and whether I have paid my licence or not, and yet if I win the government run lottery they have no idea I have won, where I am and will keep the bloody money to themselves if I fail to claim in good time. Do you people do this by hand?

You have my birth date on numerous files you hold on me, including the one with all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30-odd years. It's on my health insurance card, my driver's licence, on the last four passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the planes and boats over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms that are done every ten years and the electoral registration forms I have to complete, by law, every time our lords and masters are up for re-election.

Would somebody please take note, once and for all, I was born in Maidenhead on 4th March 1957, my mother's name is Mary, her maiden name was Reynolds, my father's name is Robert, and I'd be absolutely astounded if that ever changed between now and the day I die!

I apologise Minister. I'm obviously not myself this morning, but between you and me, I have simply had enough! You mail the application form to my house, and then you ask me for my address. What is going on? Do you have a gang of Neanderthals working there?

Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to activate the Fifth Reich for God's sake! I just want to go and park my weary backside on a sunny, sandy beach for a couple of week's well-earned rest away from all this crap.

Well I have to go now, because I have to go back to Salisbury and get another copy of my birth certificate because you lost the last one with my last application AND to the tune of 60 quid! What a racket THAT is!!

Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day? But nooooo, that'd be too damn easy and maybe make sense. You'd rather have us running all over the place like chickens with our heads cut off, then find some tosser to confirm that it's really me on the goddamn picture - you know... the one where we're not allowed to smile in case we look as if we are enjoying the process! Hey, you know why we can't smile? 'Cause we're totally jacked off!

I served in the armed forces for more than 25 years, including over 10 years at the Ministry of Defence in London. I have had security clearances which allowed me to sit in the Cabinet Office, five seats away from the Prime Minister while he was being briefed on the first Gulf War and I've been doing volunteer work for the British Red Cross ever since I left the Services. However, I have to get someone 'important' to verify who I am - someone like my doctor ... who, before he got his medical degree 6 months ago WAS LIVING IN PAKISTAN...!!!

Yours sincerely,
An Irate British Citizen

Head to Heart by Makeda Bernard....

My wonderful virgin friend (little in joke there, she'll understand) who I have known for a good few years now; posted this on facebook recently, tagging me in it as she did.
I first looked at it and wondered why, then as I began to read it; I understood.
I will share what she wrote and my comment reply... I know people who know me will understand why I am posting, for those of you who don't; please read it as I did... it WILL make you think!!!


Angel is a 19 year old who has the passion for becoming a successful model. I had the pleasure of meeting Angel on the evening of 13th January 2010. Angel has the faith and trust in life like no other person I have so far met.

I met Angel on the way home from work on a bus. I sat down put on my MP3 Player, looking forward to going home and resting in the warmth. Angel was sat facing me, she kept asking the guy beside me “is this was the bus going to London Bridge?” and “what time is it”. The guy didn't pay her any attention and Angel seemed to be on the verge of tears.

I began to strike up a conversation with her. She told me that she was lost and her phone was dead and had been trying to get in touch with her uncle. etc etc, I decided to lend her my phone so that she could make a call.

Whilst she was on the phone, I felt this strong pull. The kind of pull or gut feeling that we normally choose switch off from or ignore...the one where u know really you should do or say something, but begin to rationalize it away in your head and realize it possibly could be a bigger responsibility and burden than you have the resources and ability to deliver

I intuitively knew that some of what she was saying was half truths and it seemed to be more about not wanting the people she had left where she was out of fear. After her calls she gave me my phone back, I felt her energies of worry loss, suicide, babies, freedom, insecure, regret and anguish...

I put my phone back in my bag, put on my MP3 Player trying to relax again, but those feeling just kept going on and on and coming back.... just as I was about to get off the bus I asked her "Is there anything I can do for you?" she replied "I just want someone to talk to" Now I'm sure in a normal persons head that means having a coffee in Starbucks. Nope to me that entailed me inviting her into my home....(does that make me ab-normal?)

At my home she spoke to me about her family and the abuse she suffered, she told me that she was forced into having sex (she was pregnant as a result I’m not sure, will she keep the baby I’m not sure) she spoke of mental abuse...she spoke of having a better life for herself...dreams of being a model

I started making calls to women refuges/hostels the same night. The following morning...lunchtime and afternoon...I had no joy. Angel had stayed with me a night and day. My random act of kindness ended up being an emotional one...the organizations that i called couldn't believe what i had just done......(does that make me ab-normal?)

However as much as they wanted to help and assist Angel and me, they were no places or rooms available. It was getting late and my faith was wearing thin. We had traveled all over London...I knew I may have needed to tell Angel that she would have to go on her way as I had done all that I could and had other commitments, How would she cope? Where would she go? Would she kill herself as she had been threatening earlier? as much as I told myself “she’s not my responsibility”...the sicker I became

I sat and i prayed with the little energy and reserves I had left, then began to make some more calls, just as i was about to give up we had struck gold Angel received a place at women refugee
She was saved...for now.

What would you have done???
followed your head and ignored her, gave her some money, food and wish her all the best and said a prayer for her or opened up your home to her???

(Remember rewards for acts of faith normally occur at the 11th hour, if they occurred at the 1st minute why need to have faith?)

Follow your heart; do as much as possible, treat other how you would have wished to be treated...unconditionally after all Love is not just a word it’s a verb. “God is a verb” R. Buckminster. Love like God is an action verb,

Follow your head and heart; do as much as you can but with the notion that you are called to do your best nothing more or nothing less. The rest is someone else's responsibility namely God. Psalm 82:6 says "I have said, Ye are gods” so ask yourself today and tomorrow what am I doing and what will I be doing?

This experience and my encounter with Angel gave me the inspiration. “Head to Heart” after all life is about as Angel reminded me having a dream bigger than yourself and working towards achieving it, with the right support and people around us we can achieve anything.


Thank you for sharing this with me, means a lot.
I would have said I would have done what I could to help, but have seen that I sometimes don't do enough.
I guess it is easier when you only have yourself to think about ~ I would have anyone and everyone round if I did.

It is (well, always seems to me anyways) harder and full of stress to keep "explaining" to those around me why I am helping or why my folks have come home to find some other waif or stray there...


Of course I want to do more, I want to give all I can to every charity there is. I want to spend all my time helping out others, I want to help those I care about though their struggles.

Sometimes I am selfish, I know that. Sometimes I think that I have no time, no money (which is technically true) etc. Sometimes I think about why should I, or what have they done for me?

I always feel guilty doing so, I know I am not that type of person; I have always been the one that gets hurt, in trouble, or in debt to help out others etc. But it always seems too hard to fight on and be that person, thank you for showing that sometimes it isn't.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

The Manifesto of the Once and Future King...

Seeing as I am to be the Royal Ambassador to England I wanted to post this, a wonderful piece by Mike again; see it can't JUST be me now can it?

So, Mike; where do we start boss?


The Manifesto of Mike McLarty (If I Was Emperor)


There seems to be a lot of confusion as to my political stances and various viewpoints. In order to clarify my positions, I present you with this document which, hopefully, states in plain language what I would do were I to become Emperor for Life of the United Sates.

GLOBAL AFFAIRS

1) The U.N. Is pointless. I' will withdraw us immediately and give the rest of the world six months to find another location to hold their meetings. On the first day after the six months has expired any foreigners who are not citizens of a country on my Allies List (see below) will be loaded onto a plane (coach) and sent home.

2) Allies List. You're either with us or against us. It's fine if you want to stay in the United Nations, I don't care. But if you want any aid, be it humanitarian, financial or military, you'd better be on my side. What does that mean? It means that if we get attacked, your soldiers better be willing to shed their blood along with mine. If you get attacked, we're going to make the same sacrifice. We can use your airspace, you can use ours.
Deny us any of these rights, don't back our plays, and you're off the list.
If you're not on this list, you're not getting one penny from my Imperial Coffers, let alone a single bullet shot in your defense or a single band aid to cover up your boo-boos.
At current, the Allies List would be made up of the following: Israel, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Western Europe. Want on the list? Work for it. Prove to me that you're on my side.

3) Trade. All trade has to be on a dollar-for-dollar basis. You send us one of your products, we do the same. Don't like that? Sell your stuff to someone else. My country can make what it needs, been doing it for a long time.

4) Iran. Iran is free to build all the nuclear weapons they want. They'd better have some of them pointed at us as well, because the second they attack an ally of ours the entire country is being nuked into oblivion. There will not be one Iranian left standing, I assure you.

5) South Korea. It's about time you handled your Northern brother by yourself. Good luck, my troops are withdrawing.

6) The rest of the world: Good luck also. The United States will no longer be sending you aid. I got people right here in the United States who need health care, superior schools, nutritious meals: basically all the things we are currently providing you with and denying our own citizens.
On the plus side, we will no longer be meddling in your affairs. Kill each other, commit atrocities, try to break the genocide body count record, whatever. As long as you're not attacking us or an ally, I don't care.

7) If we DO go to war with you, here is what you can expect: I will have no mercy. I will order my troops to kill every man, woman, child, dog, cat, chicken, goat, etc. that they come across. We will destroy you. We will demoralize your (remaining) citizenry, we will lay waste to your infrastructure, we will steal, blow up or burn your natural resources. We will use any and all means to insure that the least amount of American lives are lost as possible.
We will NOT, however, step in and rebuild your country once the war is over. YOU are going to have to pick up the pieces. Good luck, and don't piss me off again.
I will wage such draconian, ruthless wars not because I revel in bloodshed but because I love peace. War is evil. War destroys lives. I will make the price for waging war against me so terrible that no sane leader will even consider it, and the insane leaders will be overthrown by a justifiably terrified populace.
Note: Even if they aren't your soldiers, terrorists or bombs, if you aided our enemies in any way, you are just as guilty as they are in my opinion. Choose your friends wisely.

8) Assassination and torture: Unless you're an American citizen, all for it. My Benevolence, and that of the Constitution, applies only to American citizens.

INTERNAL AFFAIRS

1) Gays. Gays will have the same rights as anyone else. I don't care who you sleep with. What I do care about is that you pay taxes, don't break the law, and obey the social contract. Do those three things, and you are protected by law, and have the same rights as anyone else, no matter your sexual preference, religion, race, gender, etc. Everyone gets the same shot at the American Dream, and everyone has the same obligations. Hate Laws? Gone. Affirmative Action? Gone. From here on out, my good citizens, you will all truly be treated as equals, and rise or fall on your own.

2) Taxes. Everyone will pay what they pay now with one exception: Any money after the first ten million will be taxed at 50%. If you can't live well on that amount of money, then you need to readjust your luxuries. Tax laws are complicated and nuanced, I know. I'm going to hire the smartest guys I can find to make sure that everyone pays their fair share.

3) Freedom of speech: You still have the right to protest my benevolent rule and burn me in effigy. I expect it and, in many ways, demand it. You need to question me so that I question myself. You need to make your voice heard. What you CANNOT do is support terrorists, internal or external. It's all fine and good to say the United States is the Great Satan if you believe that. If I find you have sent one penny to Al Qaeda, though, I'm deporting you and your entire family. If I find you are planning to commit illegal acts on my soil, you will be scooped up and tried by military tribunal.

4) Illegal Immigrants. There is a process for becoming an American Citizen, and I encourage foreigners who want to live here to use it. Really, they're going to have to. On the first day of my Glorious Emperorship we will begin work on a twenty foot wall around our borders. Don't tell me it can't be done: the Chinese did it thousands of years ago, and they didn't even have a Lowes or Home Depot to get the materials from.
At every 50 feet a motion detecting machine gun will be placed. For the next ten miles behind the wall will be land mines. A few miles beyond the mines will be soldiers roaming around in jeeps ordered to shoot to kill.
If you can make it past all that, then you have the type of determination and moxie I like to see in one of my subjects. Welcome to America!
To further help discourage people from coming here, if you employ an illegal, your business license is automatically forfeit. You can't apply for another one for ten years.
All cargo coming into the United States of Mike will be done via approved transporters. If we find illegals in your cargo containers, you can no longer do business with us. Make sure there are no illegals in your cargo containers.

5) Drugs: Prohibition doesn't work. All drugs will be legal, taxed, and regulated just like booze. Weed, cocaine, meth, oxycontin, etc. will be sold at government run stores at prices that the gangs simply can't compete with. When you buy a drug, you'll be placed on a list. We will know who is using what. If you're buying stuff that will really mess you up, don't let my Not-So-Secret-Police catch you behind the wheel of a car.
Of course many people will die of overdose within the first few years. They were most likely going to die anyhow. Hopefully their deaths will be more of a deterrent than 'Just Say No'. In the meantime, we can use the freed prison space to make sure that violent offenders serve their full sentences instead of being released early because of working Joes caught with dime bags.

6) Prostitution: Legal. Sex workers will be required to have weekly check ups and use protection when engaging in their trade.

7) Guns: To own a gun you have to complete a gun safety class. Other than that, no restrictions. Carry it under your jacket, carry it on your hip. As long as you aren't a former felon, pack some heat. An armed society is a polite society.

8) Child Molesters, Child Killers and Rapists: If the evidence is overwhelmingly conclusive (confession plus DNA, multiple winesses, etc.) you get one appeal. The appeal must be made within the first three months of sentencing. If that appeal is rejected, you go to 'Thunderdome' (see below) or receive a bullet in the back of the head. Your victim decides which.

9) 'Thunder Dome': If you have broken the social contract through murder, rape, molestation, or any other violent offense, and are found guilty, you may be starring in 'Thunderdome'. 'Thunderdome will be pay-per-view, with all profits going to the upkeep of our prisons. In each episode, prisoners will fight to the death, with the winner getting perhaps a color TV for his or her cell, maybe a mini-fridge, a porno mag; the prizes will vary. We'll find sponsors to rake in even more dough.
The losers, conversely, are no longer a drain on our taxes.
Who goes to 'Thunderdome'? I decide. I trust my judgment. Murdered a bunch of kids? Oh yeah. Shot your spouse after a decade of physical abuse? Probably not.
I am as benevolent and merciful as I am wrathful. Do not incur my vengeance.

10) Health Care: Everyone gets health care. Yeah, it's expensive. But we're a moral country led by a moral Emperor, and it's worth the investment for our moral citizens.

11) Schools: We must have the best schools on the planet. A minimum wage for teachers will be instituted and start at 75K a year, adjusted for cost of living every year. If we don't invest in the future generations then we simply have no future as a country. A minimum wage of similar means will be instituted for our police officers as well.

12) Veterans: Never again will there be such an entity as a 'homeless vet'. If you served this country, you'll receive public housing, utilities, and three meals a day if nothing else. You'll get excellent medical care for life. My advisors, (formerly known as 'Congress') will have to attend the same health care facilities as our veterans, thus making sure only the best take care of our current and former military.

13) Abortion: Not everyone will like my call on this, but I am Emperor after all. Abortion will be illegal except in cases of rape, incest, or medical necessity. The adoption process will be improved and streamlined. Pregnant girls will receive the utmost care and continue their schooling while pregnant.

14) Pennies: Gone. Round up to the nearest nickel.

15) National Anthem: Will rotate each month, with a call-in phone poll deciding which song will be the anthem for that month. To start if off, though, we're using 'Kashmir' by Led Zeppelin.

16) Bailouts: No more. Make products that Americans and the world will buy, or fail. If you're failing, your either incompetent or not selling the right products/services. Someone will come along who will do it right if you can't/won't.

17) Job Outsourcing: If you're a business, it's certainly your right to outsource jobs to foreign countries. I am going to tax the living hell out of you, though. I will make it to where it makes even more sense to keep the jobs here. Instead of going for the quick buck, which in turn destroys American families and dreams, you're going to either have to relocate to another country entirely or learn how to be competitive in a global marketplace.

18) Welfare. If you can work, I expect you to work to the best of your ability. If you refuse to work, and there are some who would simply rather exist than thrive, expect a bare bones life. We'll feed your kids, provide them shelter, and since you come along with the package we have to do the same for you. But it's not going to be comfortable. Don't even think about cable TV or a telephone. Owning a car? Forget it. If you can afford a car, you're working albeit off the books. I'll seize that car and sell it. Same goes for your giant, big screen TV. Get used to the bus and reading. If you don't like living that way, well, get a job...

19) Social Security: Gone. It's a Ponzi Scheme we can't afford. Instead, we are going to make sure that no one is homeless, hungry, or in need of medical care. If you've set your ducks up in a row and have financial independence, all the better for you. For those of you who haven't, or have had some bad luck, we'll take care of you.

20) Oil Dependence: We will be weaned off of oil within the first 20 years of my Glorious Rule. In year one, 5% of all cars coming off the assembly line will have to be electric. In year two, 10%. Year three, 15%, etc.

I realize this Imperial Manifesto isn't perfect, because I'm not perfect. It'll have to be tweaked, adjusted. Some parts will be expanded, other negated. Whole new laws will have to be created, and you'll have to make some sacrifices, as well as cultural adjustments, at the start of my rule.
I think my plan makes sense, though. I think it makes more sense than what we have now, in any event. If you got better ideas, I'll listen to them. I will be Emperor, but still a man. And man is prone to failure and mistake. With your help, as well as the advice from the brightest minds I can surround myself with, we'll create a country that works.

All Hail Me.

Your Future Glorious Leader,

Michael G. McLarty