Although this appears to be a little off-topic, it is not, by any means. I use the above title, a little tongue-in-cheek. And it has merit. A couple of nights ago, Mom and I went to a lecture by Philippe de Montebello, the former 30-yr Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York. An absolutely delightful evening.
Story #1.
At the Q & A session afterward, someone posed the question, “What is your opinion regarding returning ancient works of art to its historical country?” His answer–as most of the rest of his talk–was deep. And caused me to think. And this does go to World Peace, if you track with me just a little bit:
He said, in many cases, how exactly can you determine the country of history? Not that you don’t know where it was made; but really, where is the history? For one example, he talked about a famous piece in Italy. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s the stated purpose of this website to promote open dialog between people of various political viewpoints. Unfortunately though, in the middle of one of the greatest economic crises of our nation, the various political parties are pointing fingers at each other. Well somebody had a hand in creating this. View this video, and decide for yourself: (There’s much packed into a short video; so keep your pause button handy.)
And if that doesn’t upset you enough, take a look at what Congress insisted on adding into this bill (in pork) before they “saddled” us taxpayers with the below items adding an additional 150 billion, to the already 700 BILLION dollar bill: (As if that already wasn’t enough.)
Sec. 211. Transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters
Sec. 308. Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Sec. 309. Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa.
Sec. 312. Deduction allowable with respect to income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico.
Sec. 317. Seven-year cost recovery period for a motorsports racing track facility.
Sec. 322. Tax incentives for investment in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 325. Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds.
Yeah, these are related to the crisis.
Come November, all these rats should be thrown out of the ship.
I begin with a quote, as it’s this quote that inspired this entry. It came to me by email (but is verified.)
Subject: Beware of Change
(July 7, 2008)
Beware of Charismatic Men Who Preach ‘Change’
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice. On June 30 I celebrate my independence day and on July 4 I celebrate America’s. This year is special, because it marks the 40th anniversary of my independence.
On June 30, 1968, I escaped communist Cuba and a few months later I was in the United States to stay. That I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress.
I’ve thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about Cuba and what transpired there. Read the rest of this entry »
This puzzles me — and troubles me: The reality is that there were WMD; yet everyone either sinks their heads in the sand, or outright denies it. –Yes, this denial is often done for political expediency. But they were there.
Remember back for a minute to the time of our invasion of Iraq. We had warned them openly to desist WMD, or to be invaded — and there was obviously no surprise to the invasion when it finally happened. In fact, if you remember, all our troops were stationed at the borders for about a week before we went in. There were no surprises.
Well, about a month or so after we went in, I did a Yahoo news search for “WMD” — and came across a most fascinating article. –With the only thing surprising me more is the fact that it never came to light. Read the rest of this entry »
Much impassioned — even heated — discussion swirls regarding the crisis of global warming, and its man-made whipping-boy, greenhouse gases. While few dispute that greenhouse gases do indeed increase global temperature, the real issue at hand is whether or not this is the prime contributor to planetary temperature change, or an ancillary one. And if this is not the prime issue, then what is? Although there are many who believe “the science is settled,” good science never rushes to conclusion: scientific history is replete with people who were convinced of things we now believe to be foolish. Read the rest of this entry »