by Crystal Laramore Lutz
Edited by Deborah K. Martin
Thursday night I was in my restaurant behind my bar, craving some hot tea. In the middle of mindlessly opening the refrigerator and pouring the half and half in my tea (the way our forefathers always did), an overwhelming sense of belonging and comfort passed over me.
Here I am, in my very own business with two of my staff members on a slow, cold, Texas winter night; satisfying my whim for English-style tea, decorating the restaurant for Christmas and preparing to make the Christmas holidays merry for all who bless us with their patronage. And by their patronage I mean their greenbacks; their dough; their hard earned money; their cash, their time.
How blessed I am to be able to provide a warm, safe, welcoming atmosphere along with great food and drinks and how blessed “they” are to have it being offered; but how long will the blessings last? Obama and Pelosi and the SEIU and organized labor unions and the IRS and the likes are doing everything they can do to destroy our blessings. Or at least that is how it feels.
Most of you know I was in Baghdad, Iraq for almost two years working with the Department of State and serving my military (that’s right, I said “my” military.) When I finally arrived back on U.S. soil and “settled in” (as if…) I was walking through the restaurant one night in the dark and alone yet felt like I was hanging out with an old friend; it was that safe comfortable feeling. It’s the deep in your heart passionate love feeling that only comes through strife, conflict, blood, sweat, tears, fighting, making up, leaving, coming back, sharing, caring, putting 110% of yourself into it kind of feeling.
When you own a small business or work for a small business this is how you feel and if you don’t you should quit. Every day you put your heart and soul into it and quite frequently you get to see the fruits of your labor instantly. It’s not like a big, cold, steel building in a big city where you work your life away and never see any rewards except for your paycheck; yet people drive to work everyday with little internal reward or peace. They drive to work, I drive my country.
Just in case you don’t know who’s driving your country it’s me, and I have a face. It’s Tabitha Marsden and she has a face. It’s Austin Piwko and he has a face. It’s Rosa Corzine and Laura Kretzchmar and they have a face.
And when Obama speaks I’d like him to look us in the face. I’d like the man driving my country (into the ground) to look at me when he’s talking to me. Instead it’s like watching a tennis match Paula said. Oh and she, Paula Harper, has a face. Maybe he doesn’t look directly into the camera for fear he might see our hearts…breaking. Maybe he knows that we know that he’s a sell-out.
I heard him say that small business owners have learned how to get more from their employees. Well, of course. Isn’t increased productivity a good thing? Isn’t finding better ways to do business a good thing? I guess not because he says they (the small business owners) only did it to wring more profits from their businesses at the expense of their employees. I’m confused and more than a little insulted by that remark.
There is little profit in this small restaurant. We have a LOT of love, a lot of great atmosphere and a load of hospitality. We have a great time here while we work really hard, but there’s not a lot of profit. No, most of that goes right back into the business, which consists of real-live people, to make it better. We make our contribution to the community in a few reliable jobs, a lot of donations and some really good food. We even hold fundraisers here on a regular basis because we actually care about our community. Will it add to our profits? Not likely. But it adds to our hearts.
I wonder what may happen as our country changes. Will I be able to stay in business if I’m forced to raise wages? No, that will only force me to cut jobs. Will I be more profitable when I am forced to buy all my employees insurance? Don’t get me wrong. If I could I would. But if faced with being jobless or insurance-less I bet my employees would rather have a regular paycheck than socialized insurance. Just ask them.
And I often wonder which one of my employees do I let go when the taxes are too much of a burden? Paula; with 4 children to support and no college education? Austin; a college student trying to live on his own? Tabathia; a foster child and college student trying to save enough money to let go of the “System”? Rosa; a foster child in high school trying to save money for a car so she is ready when the time comes to let go of the “System”? Renee; my cleaning woman? Laura; my bartender who is going back to college as an adult to get a teaching certificate and barely making ends meet? You tell me.
Our business is small. Our hearts are big. Our faith is strong. We are the face of small business. We are the ones keeping your community vibrant. I am the owner and they are my employees who always know your name; the ones who asks “How’s yer mama’en them doin’?” Because we care.
I have a face. WE have a face.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Dear Mrs. Woods,
by Crystal Laramore Lutz & Deborah K. Martin
..."Go On Take the Money and Run. Doooot, Doooot."
Sorry, but Deb and I just have to jump right smack dab in the middle of this one! Deb had a list of questions and I, as always, have all the answers. Seriously, Deb and I haven't stopped discussing the reason so many people are discussing Tiger Woods' infidelity. Notice I did not say "alleged". Isn't it clear he's been unfaithful? The only things fuzzy are all the peripherals.
How long has Elin known? Just how many women ARE there? Why oh why are we so obsessed with celebrity mischief? Should he explain himself to the world? Why hasn't the media ever reported his indiscretions before? (Oh PLEASE-this is NOT the first the media has heard of Tiger freaking Woods being unfaithful! Follow the money...)
Why do women sleep with married men? Why on earth would they ADMIT to it in PUBLIC? (pssst. Deny, deny, deny.) Do they think this type of behavior casts them in a POSITIVE light? Hmmmm. Why do men do it? And last but not least why is HE still in their house?
Is it any of our business really? No. Not really. So what he's a celebrity. So what it goes with the territory. Just b/c it goes with the territory does not mean he has to accept it. Nieman Marcus is having a buy one get one half off sale but that doesn't mean I MUST get the other $500.00 platinum toe ring for an additional $250.00. So what Tiger is not accepting the whole "Whatever I do is your business too" celebrity buy-in. Good for him.
Clearly, he's been a bad, bad boy. And I'm good with knowing that even our little Tiger is human and has made some mistakes and is taking ownership and trying to shelter his wife and children from being drug through the proverbial mud. Maybe Elin has some secrets too. Maybe they have an open marriage. Maybe Elin is bi-sexual. Maybe Tiger is gay. Maybe...
How long has Elin known? For sure since last week. Wonder if she found out on Fox News?
Just how many women ARE there? Pick a number; any number.
Why oh why are we so obsessed with celebrity mischief? Because we are all freaks. And we wish WE were doing all that...Heck I don't know! You tell me. I'll tell you WHY we KNOW...cuz it sells to tell (us).
Should he explain himself to the world? Only if he wants to. Remember people-it's THEIR life, not ours; no matter how much money you donated to his lifestyle.
Why hasn't the media ever reported his indiscretions before? Because they are liberal and biased. Usually they are out for blood. YOU tell ME. OR……
Deb has been watching Tiger since just before he turned pro. She recalls that he's never been flashy, always private. “Even WAY before he became a billionaire there was never any controversy over his dating life. Now all of a sudden there are MANY women who've been with him? Personally, I think he screwed up royally (as a woman who has been in Elin's position I can tell you the number doesn't matter. It's the first one that deals the death blow.) and now lots of women are cashing in but most of it just isn't true. And the press smells blood in the water.”
Why do women sleep with married men? Because they are young. Because they have never been married and they don't know what it feels like when your husband has an affair. Because they lack judgment. And when they get older it's because they are lonely, insecure, desperate, stupid, naive, insensitive and sometimes they have been sold a pack lies ranging from "My wife just doesn't understand me" all the way to "No. I'm not married". Then there are some men who play by the "Don't ask Don't Tell" rules of the game. Any which way you spin it-the women are wrong. The men are worse.
Why on earth would they ADMIT to it in PUBLIC? Because they are young, lack judgment, stupid, insecure, lonely, insensitive and when all other excuses fail, "Follow the money. Follow the money."
Why do men do it? Because they are young and they lack judgment. And when they get older it's because they are lonely, insecure, desperate, stupid, naive, insensitive and just plain ole dogs. And sometimes they've been sold a pack of lies ranging from "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" to "What your wife doesn't know won't hurt her". Pssst-she knows. It hurts.
And last but not least why is HE still in their house? (as this goes to press we hear that she has moved to a nearby house) Because she is young and probably lacks judgment. Because she thinks she'd be lonely without him. Maybe she is insecure, desperate, stupid, naive and my personal favorite - In Love. And maybe she's been sold a pack of lies ranging from "I promise I'll never do it again" to "Baby, I only love you-it was just sex with them". And when all else fails "Follow the money. Follow the money." Or “Go on, take the money…”
OK, what Tiger did was wrong. No excuses. But so was what Richard, Harry, David, Mike, et al did. Substitute any name here, including a few Sophia's, Valerie's and Julie's. Even though it seems to happen a LOT, there's really no excuse. If you're having problems in a marriage solve them within the marriage. This may be why Tiger is keeping mum about the situation. It's THEIR problem to solve or not solve. We should all applaud them for that. And if they can work it out more power to them. Hopefully valuable lessons will be taken to heart.
As women, we're pretty passionate about a subject like this, having been in this position ourselves and while we may never know the answers there's one question we can't escape - is it any of our business - really?
..."Go On Take the Money and Run. Doooot, Doooot."
Sorry, but Deb and I just have to jump right smack dab in the middle of this one! Deb had a list of questions and I, as always, have all the answers. Seriously, Deb and I haven't stopped discussing the reason so many people are discussing Tiger Woods' infidelity. Notice I did not say "alleged". Isn't it clear he's been unfaithful? The only things fuzzy are all the peripherals.
How long has Elin known? Just how many women ARE there? Why oh why are we so obsessed with celebrity mischief? Should he explain himself to the world? Why hasn't the media ever reported his indiscretions before? (Oh PLEASE-this is NOT the first the media has heard of Tiger freaking Woods being unfaithful! Follow the money...)
Why do women sleep with married men? Why on earth would they ADMIT to it in PUBLIC? (pssst. Deny, deny, deny.) Do they think this type of behavior casts them in a POSITIVE light? Hmmmm. Why do men do it? And last but not least why is HE still in their house?
Is it any of our business really? No. Not really. So what he's a celebrity. So what it goes with the territory. Just b/c it goes with the territory does not mean he has to accept it. Nieman Marcus is having a buy one get one half off sale but that doesn't mean I MUST get the other $500.00 platinum toe ring for an additional $250.00. So what Tiger is not accepting the whole "Whatever I do is your business too" celebrity buy-in. Good for him.
Clearly, he's been a bad, bad boy. And I'm good with knowing that even our little Tiger is human and has made some mistakes and is taking ownership and trying to shelter his wife and children from being drug through the proverbial mud. Maybe Elin has some secrets too. Maybe they have an open marriage. Maybe Elin is bi-sexual. Maybe Tiger is gay. Maybe...
How long has Elin known? For sure since last week. Wonder if she found out on Fox News?
Just how many women ARE there? Pick a number; any number.
Why oh why are we so obsessed with celebrity mischief? Because we are all freaks. And we wish WE were doing all that...Heck I don't know! You tell me. I'll tell you WHY we KNOW...cuz it sells to tell (us).
Should he explain himself to the world? Only if he wants to. Remember people-it's THEIR life, not ours; no matter how much money you donated to his lifestyle.
Why hasn't the media ever reported his indiscretions before? Because they are liberal and biased. Usually they are out for blood. YOU tell ME. OR……
Deb has been watching Tiger since just before he turned pro. She recalls that he's never been flashy, always private. “Even WAY before he became a billionaire there was never any controversy over his dating life. Now all of a sudden there are MANY women who've been with him? Personally, I think he screwed up royally (as a woman who has been in Elin's position I can tell you the number doesn't matter. It's the first one that deals the death blow.) and now lots of women are cashing in but most of it just isn't true. And the press smells blood in the water.”
Why do women sleep with married men? Because they are young. Because they have never been married and they don't know what it feels like when your husband has an affair. Because they lack judgment. And when they get older it's because they are lonely, insecure, desperate, stupid, naive, insensitive and sometimes they have been sold a pack lies ranging from "My wife just doesn't understand me" all the way to "No. I'm not married". Then there are some men who play by the "Don't ask Don't Tell" rules of the game. Any which way you spin it-the women are wrong. The men are worse.
Why on earth would they ADMIT to it in PUBLIC? Because they are young, lack judgment, stupid, insecure, lonely, insensitive and when all other excuses fail, "Follow the money. Follow the money."
Why do men do it? Because they are young and they lack judgment. And when they get older it's because they are lonely, insecure, desperate, stupid, naive, insensitive and just plain ole dogs. And sometimes they've been sold a pack of lies ranging from "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" to "What your wife doesn't know won't hurt her". Pssst-she knows. It hurts.
And last but not least why is HE still in their house? (as this goes to press we hear that she has moved to a nearby house) Because she is young and probably lacks judgment. Because she thinks she'd be lonely without him. Maybe she is insecure, desperate, stupid, naive and my personal favorite - In Love. And maybe she's been sold a pack of lies ranging from "I promise I'll never do it again" to "Baby, I only love you-it was just sex with them". And when all else fails "Follow the money. Follow the money." Or “Go on, take the money…”
OK, what Tiger did was wrong. No excuses. But so was what Richard, Harry, David, Mike, et al did. Substitute any name here, including a few Sophia's, Valerie's and Julie's. Even though it seems to happen a LOT, there's really no excuse. If you're having problems in a marriage solve them within the marriage. This may be why Tiger is keeping mum about the situation. It's THEIR problem to solve or not solve. We should all applaud them for that. And if they can work it out more power to them. Hopefully valuable lessons will be taken to heart.
As women, we're pretty passionate about a subject like this, having been in this position ourselves and while we may never know the answers there's one question we can't escape - is it any of our business - really?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Bad Parenting 101
By Crystal Laramore
Edited by Deborah Martin
Hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving holiday. I had the week off! And I was thankful. This year I have a lot to be thankful for. I am especially thankful I have a wonderful new family. And I’m most thankful they haven’t left me yet! It’s been an adjustment for me more so than them but they are both patient. My husband is 52. Sometimes he’s not really patient, he’s just tired but the end result is the same-I vent and he sits in the recliner watching HD football and pretends to listen/care. The 6 year old is patient cuz she has to be. I’m mainly in charge of her food, clothing and shelter and “puppy time”.
My husband came complete with two grown children, a daughter-in law, two grandsons and a 6 year old precious little girl that lives with us. And however precious she is, she IS SIX. She has made me laugh, cry and sing with joy. I fell in love with her father first, but I am falling in love with her more and more every day. My heart sometimes skips beats when she hugs me and tells me she loves me. And somewhere in the middle of all the chaos and adjustments-we’ve become a family. This new family has given me a whole different perspective in life and a whole new direction in writing. I could write all day about politics (you know I could) and relationships but for now you will have to endure some “kid” stories. Lord knows I’ve endured enough of them over the years!
Last week's article received a lot of attention for which I was quite surprised! Women from around the country responded with such encouraging words! “Girl, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Just wait till she’s 13! Oh honey, it doesn’t get easier. It gets harder. Good luck. May the force be with you. Wait till she starts driving! Wait till she starts liking boys. You may be new to this but it’s the same with all moms! And my editor/former friend said I’m SOOOOOOOO glad my kids are grown!”
Mostly, I consider myself a worldly, empowered, intelligent woman with a wide range of ways to express myself. I just cried; and wrote some more - to free myself of the sinful thoughts in my heart. Amen.
One of my friends, Sophie, just called me to share one of her experiences raising a child for the first time-yeah, she’s old too! Sophie and her husband adopted an 8 year-old 5 years ago. Yes, 8+5 = 13.
Sophie considers herself a highly intelligent, well-rounded individual. She has a demanding, high-paying job. She calls on the best of the best in her industry. She is consistently wheeling, dealing, dining and drinking (H2O that is)…
So how can such an accomplished woman send her child off to school without lunch money? How can such a capable woman bring her child to the brink of dirty hallway "Coke & Cheetos" deals?
Just the other day she took her child to buy a pair of Fat Baby’s. Right! I had no idea either. Apparently they are all the craze in the child-fashion-apparel-boot dept. There they were! The cammo Fat Baby boots! Too bad they were 2 sizes too big. OR not too bad after all! Seems the child doesn’t CARE if they don’t fit. “I WANT THE BOOTS!" Okay, Okay, Okay….get the damn boots!
Then said child decided she wanted to wear them to a funeral. Mom said no (as well she should have). Seems the child doesn’t CARE if you shouldn’t wear cammo boots to a funeral. “I WANT TO WEAR MY BOOTS.” Okay, Okay, Okay….wear the damn boots.
As soon as they walked into the funeral home some red-neck said “Hey, I like your boots”. And mom got the head-spasm-eyes rolled in the back of the head-I told you so look. We are all sure he was being sarcastic but she’s 13-YOU explain to her…
Speaking of fashion statements, I decided to let our child discover her own form of fashion. So when she shows up with a pink print skirt and a solid orange shirt with monkeys on it-don’t judge me. The cream colored turtleneck and the white cotton skirt-that one you never had to see. Some fashion faux paus are even too devastating for ME to witness much less make my friends (while I still have them) at school suffer through them.
Sometimes her dad comes into her bedroom (after I’ve drunk 2 cups of coffee, wash/dried/folded/put away 2 loads of laundry, fed child a popsicle stick for breakfast-WHAT? Sophie said they’re made with REAL fruit juice from concentrate, fed puppies, painstakingly watched Shaggy and Scooby solve yet another unsolvable mystery, helped child brush teeth, done homework if we forgot the night b4, packed backpack and gotten her dressed) and says “WHY is she wearing THAT”? And I say “Because you were taking a long, hot shower” with the head-spasm-eyes rolled in the back of my head-I told you not to leave us alone look. Any MORE intelligent questions?
Why JUST last Friday I sent her to school wearing her pretty pink skirt, matching top (HUGE step) and pretty high-gloss-glittery-pink shoes. Two outta three ain’t bad! Ain’t bad at all. I did have to do a pre-emptive strike and forewarn her father “Don’t say a word. Just tell her she looks pretty”. Of course this weird behavior from her conservative father confused the child and she immediately pointed out the shoes “But, look at my SHOES Daddy...” He never waivered. He just stayed on track and repeated “I see them. You look pretty.” Confused but happy, she thanked him and skipped out of our bedroom in her magic shoes!
I asked my friends if that was considered bad parenting and one of them replied “No. She can just click her heels twice and say…
‘There’s no place like Neieman ’s!’”
Edited by Deborah Martin
Hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving holiday. I had the week off! And I was thankful. This year I have a lot to be thankful for. I am especially thankful I have a wonderful new family. And I’m most thankful they haven’t left me yet! It’s been an adjustment for me more so than them but they are both patient. My husband is 52. Sometimes he’s not really patient, he’s just tired but the end result is the same-I vent and he sits in the recliner watching HD football and pretends to listen/care. The 6 year old is patient cuz she has to be. I’m mainly in charge of her food, clothing and shelter and “puppy time”.
My husband came complete with two grown children, a daughter-in law, two grandsons and a 6 year old precious little girl that lives with us. And however precious she is, she IS SIX. She has made me laugh, cry and sing with joy. I fell in love with her father first, but I am falling in love with her more and more every day. My heart sometimes skips beats when she hugs me and tells me she loves me. And somewhere in the middle of all the chaos and adjustments-we’ve become a family. This new family has given me a whole different perspective in life and a whole new direction in writing. I could write all day about politics (you know I could) and relationships but for now you will have to endure some “kid” stories. Lord knows I’ve endured enough of them over the years!
Last week's article received a lot of attention for which I was quite surprised! Women from around the country responded with such encouraging words! “Girl, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Just wait till she’s 13! Oh honey, it doesn’t get easier. It gets harder. Good luck. May the force be with you. Wait till she starts driving! Wait till she starts liking boys. You may be new to this but it’s the same with all moms! And my editor/former friend said I’m SOOOOOOOO glad my kids are grown!”
Mostly, I consider myself a worldly, empowered, intelligent woman with a wide range of ways to express myself. I just cried; and wrote some more - to free myself of the sinful thoughts in my heart. Amen.
One of my friends, Sophie, just called me to share one of her experiences raising a child for the first time-yeah, she’s old too! Sophie and her husband adopted an 8 year-old 5 years ago. Yes, 8+5 = 13.
Sophie considers herself a highly intelligent, well-rounded individual. She has a demanding, high-paying job. She calls on the best of the best in her industry. She is consistently wheeling, dealing, dining and drinking (H2O that is)…
So how can such an accomplished woman send her child off to school without lunch money? How can such a capable woman bring her child to the brink of dirty hallway "Coke & Cheetos" deals?
Just the other day she took her child to buy a pair of Fat Baby’s. Right! I had no idea either. Apparently they are all the craze in the child-fashion-apparel-boot dept. There they were! The cammo Fat Baby boots! Too bad they were 2 sizes too big. OR not too bad after all! Seems the child doesn’t CARE if they don’t fit. “I WANT THE BOOTS!" Okay, Okay, Okay….get the damn boots!
Then said child decided she wanted to wear them to a funeral. Mom said no (as well she should have). Seems the child doesn’t CARE if you shouldn’t wear cammo boots to a funeral. “I WANT TO WEAR MY BOOTS.” Okay, Okay, Okay….wear the damn boots.
As soon as they walked into the funeral home some red-neck said “Hey, I like your boots”. And mom got the head-spasm-eyes rolled in the back of the head-I told you so look. We are all sure he was being sarcastic but she’s 13-YOU explain to her…
Speaking of fashion statements, I decided to let our child discover her own form of fashion. So when she shows up with a pink print skirt and a solid orange shirt with monkeys on it-don’t judge me. The cream colored turtleneck and the white cotton skirt-that one you never had to see. Some fashion faux paus are even too devastating for ME to witness much less make my friends (while I still have them) at school suffer through them.
Sometimes her dad comes into her bedroom (after I’ve drunk 2 cups of coffee, wash/dried/folded/put away 2 loads of laundry, fed child a popsicle stick for breakfast-WHAT? Sophie said they’re made with REAL fruit juice from concentrate, fed puppies, painstakingly watched Shaggy and Scooby solve yet another unsolvable mystery, helped child brush teeth, done homework if we forgot the night b4, packed backpack and gotten her dressed) and says “WHY is she wearing THAT”? And I say “Because you were taking a long, hot shower” with the head-spasm-eyes rolled in the back of my head-I told you not to leave us alone look. Any MORE intelligent questions?
Why JUST last Friday I sent her to school wearing her pretty pink skirt, matching top (HUGE step) and pretty high-gloss-glittery-pink shoes. Two outta three ain’t bad! Ain’t bad at all. I did have to do a pre-emptive strike and forewarn her father “Don’t say a word. Just tell her she looks pretty”. Of course this weird behavior from her conservative father confused the child and she immediately pointed out the shoes “But, look at my SHOES Daddy...” He never waivered. He just stayed on track and repeated “I see them. You look pretty.” Confused but happy, she thanked him and skipped out of our bedroom in her magic shoes!
I asked my friends if that was considered bad parenting and one of them replied “No. She can just click her heels twice and say…
‘There’s no place like Neieman ’s!’”
Your Glass Is Half What?
By Deborah K. Martin sitting in for Crystal Laramore Lutz
This is Thanksgiving week, the start of the long holiday season which will encompass Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Ashura and I’m sure many others. Being a tried and true American I’m glad this season starts off in the United States with a celebration of abundance, cooperation and gratitude.
Getting together with family and friends over a very large, calorie laden, fragrant meal has always been one of my favorite things but it’s not the only thing I think about at this time in November. Each year I stop for some serious thought about what has happened in my life over the past 12 months. I think about how I could have made it better, about my own mistakes in judgment and wasted opportunities. It’s not a time for beating myself up, just doing an honest self-evaluation.
I also think a lot about the true blessings in my life and try to be consciously grateful for each one. Things like my wonderful children who really aren’t children anymore. My older son has 4 daughters of his own. My younger son has added a beautiful wife to his life this year. I’m grateful for my grandchildren and my siblings. My two brothers are especially precious to me. They are both great men with many talents. I love them dearly.
I’m grateful for wonderful friends who encourage me during the tough times and keep me grounded during the good ones. Especially Miss Crystal, who has been my buddy and soul-mate for many years. What a blessing she is. She makes me laugh, she encourages me, she curses the latest guy who has hurt me and she challenges me to be more. Thank you, honey.
All this thinking got me wondering about attitude. It is everything, isn’t it? Some bad things have happened in my life this year (and last year and the year before and the year before, you get the picture) but I still have the ability to be cheerful, happy and grateful. Now please, don’t think I’m patting myself on the back here. I’m just as human as the rest. There are days when I think my life just plain sucks. But that passes.
Why? Because I CHOOSE to let it pass. I CHOOSE to look on the bright side. I CHOOSE to learn from those sucky days. I think maybe I was born with this bent anyway, but I’ve had many opportunities over the years to keep making the choice to be happy and cheerful. You CAN make that a habit like any other habit.
This brings me to the “glass half full or empty” question. There are two men who, over the years, have been very dear to me, each for different reasons. One I have known for over 13 years. We became instant friends and over the years he has been a buddy, a mentor and spiritual guide for me. He is a very successful businessman who has built quite a nice life for himself and his family. Last week we found out he has a rare, incurable cancer. He may live a year. He may live ten. It’s devastating news for someone who was planning an early retirement in the hill country with his wife and his Harley. He said he has to find different dreams now, short term ones. He has his bad moments but all in all, he is handling this news with grace and dignity. His life will be full for however long he is here.
The other man I have known for about 5 years. He has been a friend, a playmate, a lover, a fiancé. We’re no longer together as a couple but he calls every once in awhile. He also has been diagnosed with cancer. Prostate cancer. It seems to have spread to his kidneys, which is never good news, but still and all there are treatments and cures for his disease.
Like the first man, he is smart. He is also successful in his work. He has a loving family. He can still make me laugh. But none of that matters. He says his life is over. He’s done. He’s thinking seriously of not getting any treatment for his cancer. (Seriously? Give up? I can’t fathom that kind of thinking.) He says he’ll just live until he dies because he hates his life anyway. But would that be living? It’s not the disease that will kill him, but his attitude.
My first friend doesn’t just have a glass half full mentality. His glass is always overflowing, now as much as ever, just in different ways. My former fiancé’s glass apparently has always been empty. (just one of the reasons we’re no longer together) Isn’t that an amazing difference? I draw a complete blank when trying to figure it out.
So what’s my point? It’s not to look at your life and say, “Oh thank God, I don’t have cancer so I’ll be extra grateful! Yippee! Aren’t I lucky?!” No. That doesn’t usually work with me. Sometimes I look at that other person’s life and still say, “Well, my life sucks anyway. What’s your point?!” My point is that even though I may feel that my life sucks in some temporary way, it’s my choice to stay stuck there or to adjust my mind and move on.
It’s a choice. Sometimes a pretty difficult one, I’ll grant you, but a choice nonetheless. Frankly, at my age I no longer dread those challenges because I’ve already been through enough of them to know I’ll not only survive them, I’ll learn something valuable I can pass along to others. Every challenge makes me more grateful. It gives me more hope. More faith. More strength. Not less.
Anyone reading this little article in this little paper is blessed beyond measure. You can read. You have enough income to buy a paper. You have enough brainpower to understand what you’re reading. You live in a country which allows someone like you to read the scribblings of someone like me. Likely you have someone who loves you. Maybe a lot of someones. You have friends. Perhaps you have a career which thrills you every day. Or maybe you’re facing challenges. Physical. Mental. Financial. Emotional.
This is a great week to count your blessings. I dare you. Write them out. One by one. Seriously. Don’t bother with the negative unless you just can’t help yourself. Write out everything you can think of. Not only your job or your health. How about being grateful for how sweet your child looks when he’s asleep. Or how about the smell of a pumpkin pie straight out of the oven? The fact that your dog wiggles all over whether you’ve been out of the room 5 minutes or 5 days? Hugs? Smiles? Double Stuff Oreos? Hearing someone says I love you. Or how about this one – automatic deposit of your paycheck. Cell phones so you’re never out of touch. Or maybe leaving the cell phone at home. Any golf course at 7:30 in the morning. And the perfect tee shot. Take nothing for granted.
Make your list. Then choose. Will you have an attitude of gratitude? Will your glass be half empty or half full?
This is Thanksgiving week, the start of the long holiday season which will encompass Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Ashura and I’m sure many others. Being a tried and true American I’m glad this season starts off in the United States with a celebration of abundance, cooperation and gratitude.
Getting together with family and friends over a very large, calorie laden, fragrant meal has always been one of my favorite things but it’s not the only thing I think about at this time in November. Each year I stop for some serious thought about what has happened in my life over the past 12 months. I think about how I could have made it better, about my own mistakes in judgment and wasted opportunities. It’s not a time for beating myself up, just doing an honest self-evaluation.
I also think a lot about the true blessings in my life and try to be consciously grateful for each one. Things like my wonderful children who really aren’t children anymore. My older son has 4 daughters of his own. My younger son has added a beautiful wife to his life this year. I’m grateful for my grandchildren and my siblings. My two brothers are especially precious to me. They are both great men with many talents. I love them dearly.
I’m grateful for wonderful friends who encourage me during the tough times and keep me grounded during the good ones. Especially Miss Crystal, who has been my buddy and soul-mate for many years. What a blessing she is. She makes me laugh, she encourages me, she curses the latest guy who has hurt me and she challenges me to be more. Thank you, honey.
All this thinking got me wondering about attitude. It is everything, isn’t it? Some bad things have happened in my life this year (and last year and the year before and the year before, you get the picture) but I still have the ability to be cheerful, happy and grateful. Now please, don’t think I’m patting myself on the back here. I’m just as human as the rest. There are days when I think my life just plain sucks. But that passes.
Why? Because I CHOOSE to let it pass. I CHOOSE to look on the bright side. I CHOOSE to learn from those sucky days. I think maybe I was born with this bent anyway, but I’ve had many opportunities over the years to keep making the choice to be happy and cheerful. You CAN make that a habit like any other habit.
This brings me to the “glass half full or empty” question. There are two men who, over the years, have been very dear to me, each for different reasons. One I have known for over 13 years. We became instant friends and over the years he has been a buddy, a mentor and spiritual guide for me. He is a very successful businessman who has built quite a nice life for himself and his family. Last week we found out he has a rare, incurable cancer. He may live a year. He may live ten. It’s devastating news for someone who was planning an early retirement in the hill country with his wife and his Harley. He said he has to find different dreams now, short term ones. He has his bad moments but all in all, he is handling this news with grace and dignity. His life will be full for however long he is here.
The other man I have known for about 5 years. He has been a friend, a playmate, a lover, a fiancé. We’re no longer together as a couple but he calls every once in awhile. He also has been diagnosed with cancer. Prostate cancer. It seems to have spread to his kidneys, which is never good news, but still and all there are treatments and cures for his disease.
Like the first man, he is smart. He is also successful in his work. He has a loving family. He can still make me laugh. But none of that matters. He says his life is over. He’s done. He’s thinking seriously of not getting any treatment for his cancer. (Seriously? Give up? I can’t fathom that kind of thinking.) He says he’ll just live until he dies because he hates his life anyway. But would that be living? It’s not the disease that will kill him, but his attitude.
My first friend doesn’t just have a glass half full mentality. His glass is always overflowing, now as much as ever, just in different ways. My former fiancé’s glass apparently has always been empty. (just one of the reasons we’re no longer together) Isn’t that an amazing difference? I draw a complete blank when trying to figure it out.
So what’s my point? It’s not to look at your life and say, “Oh thank God, I don’t have cancer so I’ll be extra grateful! Yippee! Aren’t I lucky?!” No. That doesn’t usually work with me. Sometimes I look at that other person’s life and still say, “Well, my life sucks anyway. What’s your point?!” My point is that even though I may feel that my life sucks in some temporary way, it’s my choice to stay stuck there or to adjust my mind and move on.
It’s a choice. Sometimes a pretty difficult one, I’ll grant you, but a choice nonetheless. Frankly, at my age I no longer dread those challenges because I’ve already been through enough of them to know I’ll not only survive them, I’ll learn something valuable I can pass along to others. Every challenge makes me more grateful. It gives me more hope. More faith. More strength. Not less.
Anyone reading this little article in this little paper is blessed beyond measure. You can read. You have enough income to buy a paper. You have enough brainpower to understand what you’re reading. You live in a country which allows someone like you to read the scribblings of someone like me. Likely you have someone who loves you. Maybe a lot of someones. You have friends. Perhaps you have a career which thrills you every day. Or maybe you’re facing challenges. Physical. Mental. Financial. Emotional.
This is a great week to count your blessings. I dare you. Write them out. One by one. Seriously. Don’t bother with the negative unless you just can’t help yourself. Write out everything you can think of. Not only your job or your health. How about being grateful for how sweet your child looks when he’s asleep. Or how about the smell of a pumpkin pie straight out of the oven? The fact that your dog wiggles all over whether you’ve been out of the room 5 minutes or 5 days? Hugs? Smiles? Double Stuff Oreos? Hearing someone says I love you. Or how about this one – automatic deposit of your paycheck. Cell phones so you’re never out of touch. Or maybe leaving the cell phone at home. Any golf course at 7:30 in the morning. And the perfect tee shot. Take nothing for granted.
Make your list. Then choose. Will you have an attitude of gratitude? Will your glass be half empty or half full?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
“Mommy”! Who Said That?
By Crystal Laramore
Edited by Deborah K. Martin
This whole "Bam! you’re the proud new mother of a 6 year old at the age of 45" is taking it’s toll on me and my friends and the school system and last but not least the poor, poor 6 year-old. My husband seems to be taking it well; which should give us all reason to pause…
Does it mean you’re a bad parent if you drop your child off at school on a teacher In-Service day? What about if you get really mad at the “system” cuz the school called you last-minute to tell you that you have 70 lbs of cookie dough to pick up by 7 pm-“That’s it? No notice? No reminder?” and you’re in a business meeting in Houston; then you find the notice/reminder a few days later under your car seat with peanut butter on it? "Honey, can you cancel that appt. we had with LaTonya Goffney on Tuesday?"
How about if you send your child off to school with crooked pig tails? Socks that don’t match? Scratches under her eyes from the puppies-no, I swear!
Isn’t it great that children are resilient and bounce back from most things we do to screw them up as a child??? Maybe that’s why God makes our memory so crappy before the age of about 10. God knows.
Seriously, it’s a good thing that I KNOW the teachers and the administration at my stepdaughter's school. At least they know I don’t MEAN to be a horrible parent. At least they are willing to teach me that I have to help her with her homework when she first comes in from school while it’s still fresh in her mind and she has energy & an attention span farther than 22 seconds or until she hears the puppies barking; not at 6:55 in the morning right before we rush her to get ready and rush her out the door with crooked pig tails to have breakfast at school cuz we’re too crazed to make her breakfast soooo early in the morning and oh! Great Scott! Thank the good Lord they make it at school!
We do allow her to have coffee with us though. What?
Oh good gosh not really, we give her chocolate milk. I swear! Everyone knows sugar is totally better for a child than caffeine"??!!
And about the whole helping her with her homework thing Mrs. Rouswald, we didn't even know she HAD homework for several weeks. We thought kindergartners finger-painted. We didn't realize they were beginning to READ at that age! It's been such a long time since we were in grade K we forgot how to spell it. So, if our child is ever failing, please inform us because it's probably OUR fault! She’s probably told us to do something and we’ve ignored the silly 6 year old.
Like the first 3 times she brought home the copy of the lunch menu for the month I threw it away b/c it wasn’t pretty enough to go on the fridge - like the 6 year old said it should. Well, the 6 year old should have told the 45 year old it had the in-service days on it and the ice cream and slushy days on it and when the cookie dough will be in day marked, and when award day is-we missed award day! But nooooo, we’ve taught her to not argue with our authority. Tsk. We were soooo surprised when she came home with an award. I thought the “Food” calendar just had who was eating what & when on it. New parents don’t realize the global importance of the monthly food menu! To NOT look at one is to NOT want your child to succeed!
Look people, before I met/married my wonderful husband I was a night owl. I stayed up till 2 or 3 am and woke up around 10 or 11 am. I read period pieces, not "I said I see Sam". I may or may not get dressed for work during the week cuz no one can see me doing computer work. I lived on-site and only had to walk 10 paces to work. Now, I’m up between 5:30 & 6:00 and have made and drank 2 cups of coffee by 6:30. By 7:15 I have a lot of chores finished including getting a 6 year old ready for school (did she brush her teeth this morning?) and a 45 year-old (me) ready for work. Each takes the same amount of energy. By the time I get to work, which is 7 miles away now and I do indeed drive, I need a nap.
And is it so bad that we get Spirit day and the other day (see, I don’t even know the names of all the days) mixed up? Wednesdays we know its green t-shirt day and Friday is red-t-shirt day and most of the time we get it right; isn’t that enough? And I think the school system has dealt with parents like us before and that is why they pick our child’s clothes 2 days out of the week FOR US!
Speaking of colors, why didn't someone tell me a blue smiley face was worse than a green one? I thought a smiley face was universally good and all the different colors were pretty.
Here's another thing - why does a 6 year old get “projects” WE have to do??? Don’t WE pay THEM to teach our child? Our child’s parents are old. WE don’t have energy or an attention span after 4:30 pm either. It takes all the energy my husband has to turn off the football game every Monday night.
And if bed-time is 8:30 and the Wizard of Oz doesn't come on until 7:00 and Dorothy hasn’t clicked her freaking heels yet-what then???? Shouldn’t Disney have a policy about what time kids’ shows start? We could barely get her out of bed this morning and she was mad at US! Like we own Disney or something…wait, are they publicly traded?
Sophie’s story: It's not a "good parent" story; it's a "good child" story. Sometimes these things DO happen. It'll give you hope. When her baby boy was about 10 (btw, he's teaches pre-calculus and statistics in high school now so that should give you some clue as to how many cheery brain cells HE has), she and her husband were at a gathering of parents in the home of one of his classmates. The classmate in question wandered through the living room and his dad said something like, "Johnny, don't take too long. You know you've got to finish that big project. It's due tomorrow!"
Sophia and her then husband looked at each other & said “What project”? Their over-achieving child looked quizzically at them and said, "Oh yeah. I turned that in days ago." And so went HIS school years. We should all be so lucky as to get a kid like that. Miracles DO happen in the parenting world.
In the mean-time, this parent will try to remember (after 3 mos of school) to give her child a dollar on Wednesdays and Fridays for a slushy and/or ice cream and be grateful that she has better manners than Kanye and doesn't interrupt when someone is getting an award, even if her parents aren’t there!
p.s. I just found out that slushy day is Tuesday...NOT Wednesday…
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Edited by Deborah K. Martin
This whole "Bam! you’re the proud new mother of a 6 year old at the age of 45" is taking it’s toll on me and my friends and the school system and last but not least the poor, poor 6 year-old. My husband seems to be taking it well; which should give us all reason to pause…
Does it mean you’re a bad parent if you drop your child off at school on a teacher In-Service day? What about if you get really mad at the “system” cuz the school called you last-minute to tell you that you have 70 lbs of cookie dough to pick up by 7 pm-“That’s it? No notice? No reminder?” and you’re in a business meeting in Houston; then you find the notice/reminder a few days later under your car seat with peanut butter on it? "Honey, can you cancel that appt. we had with LaTonya Goffney on Tuesday?"
How about if you send your child off to school with crooked pig tails? Socks that don’t match? Scratches under her eyes from the puppies-no, I swear!
Isn’t it great that children are resilient and bounce back from most things we do to screw them up as a child??? Maybe that’s why God makes our memory so crappy before the age of about 10. God knows.
Seriously, it’s a good thing that I KNOW the teachers and the administration at my stepdaughter's school. At least they know I don’t MEAN to be a horrible parent. At least they are willing to teach me that I have to help her with her homework when she first comes in from school while it’s still fresh in her mind and she has energy & an attention span farther than 22 seconds or until she hears the puppies barking; not at 6:55 in the morning right before we rush her to get ready and rush her out the door with crooked pig tails to have breakfast at school cuz we’re too crazed to make her breakfast soooo early in the morning and oh! Great Scott! Thank the good Lord they make it at school!
We do allow her to have coffee with us though. What?
Oh good gosh not really, we give her chocolate milk. I swear! Everyone knows sugar is totally better for a child than caffeine"??!!
And about the whole helping her with her homework thing Mrs. Rouswald, we didn't even know she HAD homework for several weeks. We thought kindergartners finger-painted. We didn't realize they were beginning to READ at that age! It's been such a long time since we were in grade K we forgot how to spell it. So, if our child is ever failing, please inform us because it's probably OUR fault! She’s probably told us to do something and we’ve ignored the silly 6 year old.
Like the first 3 times she brought home the copy of the lunch menu for the month I threw it away b/c it wasn’t pretty enough to go on the fridge - like the 6 year old said it should. Well, the 6 year old should have told the 45 year old it had the in-service days on it and the ice cream and slushy days on it and when the cookie dough will be in day marked, and when award day is-we missed award day! But nooooo, we’ve taught her to not argue with our authority. Tsk. We were soooo surprised when she came home with an award. I thought the “Food” calendar just had who was eating what & when on it. New parents don’t realize the global importance of the monthly food menu! To NOT look at one is to NOT want your child to succeed!
Look people, before I met/married my wonderful husband I was a night owl. I stayed up till 2 or 3 am and woke up around 10 or 11 am. I read period pieces, not "I said I see Sam". I may or may not get dressed for work during the week cuz no one can see me doing computer work. I lived on-site and only had to walk 10 paces to work. Now, I’m up between 5:30 & 6:00 and have made and drank 2 cups of coffee by 6:30. By 7:15 I have a lot of chores finished including getting a 6 year old ready for school (did she brush her teeth this morning?) and a 45 year-old (me) ready for work. Each takes the same amount of energy. By the time I get to work, which is 7 miles away now and I do indeed drive, I need a nap.
And is it so bad that we get Spirit day and the other day (see, I don’t even know the names of all the days) mixed up? Wednesdays we know its green t-shirt day and Friday is red-t-shirt day and most of the time we get it right; isn’t that enough? And I think the school system has dealt with parents like us before and that is why they pick our child’s clothes 2 days out of the week FOR US!
Speaking of colors, why didn't someone tell me a blue smiley face was worse than a green one? I thought a smiley face was universally good and all the different colors were pretty.
Here's another thing - why does a 6 year old get “projects” WE have to do??? Don’t WE pay THEM to teach our child? Our child’s parents are old. WE don’t have energy or an attention span after 4:30 pm either. It takes all the energy my husband has to turn off the football game every Monday night.
And if bed-time is 8:30 and the Wizard of Oz doesn't come on until 7:00 and Dorothy hasn’t clicked her freaking heels yet-what then???? Shouldn’t Disney have a policy about what time kids’ shows start? We could barely get her out of bed this morning and she was mad at US! Like we own Disney or something…wait, are they publicly traded?
Sophie’s story: It's not a "good parent" story; it's a "good child" story. Sometimes these things DO happen. It'll give you hope. When her baby boy was about 10 (btw, he's teaches pre-calculus and statistics in high school now so that should give you some clue as to how many cheery brain cells HE has), she and her husband were at a gathering of parents in the home of one of his classmates. The classmate in question wandered through the living room and his dad said something like, "Johnny, don't take too long. You know you've got to finish that big project. It's due tomorrow!"
Sophia and her then husband looked at each other & said “What project”? Their over-achieving child looked quizzically at them and said, "Oh yeah. I turned that in days ago." And so went HIS school years. We should all be so lucky as to get a kid like that. Miracles DO happen in the parenting world.
In the mean-time, this parent will try to remember (after 3 mos of school) to give her child a dollar on Wednesdays and Fridays for a slushy and/or ice cream and be grateful that she has better manners than Kanye and doesn't interrupt when someone is getting an award, even if her parents aren’t there!
p.s. I just found out that slushy day is Tuesday...NOT Wednesday…
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Saturday, November 14, 2009
Honoring Veterans – Old & Young/Past & Present
by Crystal Laramore
Veteran’s day; a time for reflection and gratitude for many. And boy, do we have a lot to be grateful for! Just in my family and circle of friends alone I spent a few hours today (Tuesday) making phone calls and sending emails, thanking them for serving our country. I even received a few “thank-you’s” myself, which humbled my heart beyond measure.
One of my friends, CW 4 Luke Sweeney, flew an apache helicopter in the downtown parade in Houston on Veterans Day last year. His co-pilot was CW2 Darrick McGill. The lead Apache was expertly piloted by CW3 Roka (Rock) Wolgamott and co-piloted by CW2 Dusty Davis and they were followed by CW2 Ross Hovey and his front-seater was CW2 Jonathan Johnson.
Apparently this was a death-defying act! We were in Baghdad together and he said the flight that day was more frightening than most of the flying he did over there! The buildings downtown were only 75 feet apart and his span on the helo is about 50 feet! Warrant Officer Sweeney, aka Coco, lives here in Coldspring with his children, Brooke & Lucas Sweeney and his sister Sue Sweeney. If you live in Conroe, you may see him flying overhead a lot. He is based out of Lone Star Executive Airport. He belongs to the 7/6 Calvary Regiment. So, those guys you see practicing are doing it for a reason. And when you do see them, take a moment to say a silent “thank you” or heck, yell it till your throat hurts!
Until you’ve been in a war or a war zone you cannot begin to understand the level of commitment the men and women serving your country have embraced. Almost every day people ask me what it was like “over there”. Being Veteran’s Day today and having a chopper fly over my restaurant today made me remember this article and want to re-run it…
The military hospital is called the CASH (combat support hospital; incidentally, they used to be called M*A*S*H hospitals so says Col. Uncle Bill). When I first arrived I was sick with flu-like symptoms for the first three months. The doctors and civilians called it the Baghdad bug and many people were sick with it. So, I was in the CASH a lot. Then my neck stiffened up on me and I could not turn my head so I was in physical therapy for about six-8 weeks every day.
While I was hanging out at the hospital I would visit soldiers who were wounded and find out about their injuries and their lives at home and where they came from. Most of the soldiers had their purple hearts or their silver stars sitting right by their bedside. I caught a few of them watching Oprah, but as soon as I’d walk in and said “Hey, how’s it going?” they’d change the channel to WWF or something. (Not really WWF since we didn’t get that channel, but you get the idea!) And I never once called ‘em out on it. It was a secret among friends.
Other times, when I was coming in for treatment, I’d see a Chinook in the parking lot with a big red cross on it or a Blackhawk with blades running. Sometimes the medics would be taking soldiers off and carrying them in the CASH right in front of me. People screaming, men running, blood dripping. ER in a war zone. No commercials. No actors. No do-overs. Other times the only noise in all the area would be the deep, heavy thudding of the chopper blades. Either scenario was a grave situation. Those young men were in that chopper, on that gurney, in those bandages, bleeding red-for me. (And not all of them were Americans. This is a coalition of forces.) And I would always say a little prayer before walking through those ominous glass sliding doors, because of what awaited me on the other side; a soldier or a marine would often be lying on a gurney with his buddies standing around him in prayer. And I always knew (or thought I did) if the young man would make it or not. Sometimes I couldn’t even get through my physical therapy session b/c I was crying so hard. Probably what pulled at my heart more than anything is that I always expected to see a man; a grown man; an older man; a man who had lived most of his life; a man ready to die;. What I saw were men all right; it’s just that they were men at young boy’s ages; they hadn’t lived their lives; they just graduated from high school; they weren’t ready to die. But they were ready to fight for their country. Their faces were so young and so innocent, and yet so very brave.
At night, when we would all be sitting around winding down, we’d hear the choppers coming in; always, two-by-two. First one, then the other. If I was on the phone with a family member or friend I’d have to say, “Hold on, a chopper’s coming in” and after the chopper passed the person would start talking again and I’d have to say “Hold on, there’s another one coming in about 30 seconds”.
After being over there for a few months you could determine if an Apache, a Blackhawk or a Chinook was coming in. If it was a Chinook, chances were, the second one always had a big red cross painted on the side indicating there were wounded or fallen soldiers on board. The mood always fell to a heavy silence. Sometimes people would cry. It makes my heart beat fast just writing about it. We could hear the war in the background and we could always drown it out with laughter and chit chat and a few Coronas-naked not dressed-who had limes and salt? But, we could not drown out the sound of Chinooks coming in; two-by-two; first one, then the other. It was a heavy, thudding noise that cut through and drowned out our laughter as if demanding attention and prayer; respect and thought. It was ominous, surreal and sad.
And sometimes hearing the choppers coming in, feeling them come in, well, it felt patriotic, brave and warrior-like. I miss the sounds of the choppers flying over-head at night, rocking my hooch (where we lived-term brought back from the Vietnam War). I miss the feeling that I am well protected and loved by those who know me not. I miss feeling protected by the best armed forces in the world simply because I was blessed enough, by God, to be born an American.
So this veteran’s day, when I flew my flag I flew it out of respect for veterans of wars past, but especially for the young men and women who are fighting now. The one’s I’ve met and the one’s I know not. God bless them and God bless America!
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Veteran’s day; a time for reflection and gratitude for many. And boy, do we have a lot to be grateful for! Just in my family and circle of friends alone I spent a few hours today (Tuesday) making phone calls and sending emails, thanking them for serving our country. I even received a few “thank-you’s” myself, which humbled my heart beyond measure.
One of my friends, CW 4 Luke Sweeney, flew an apache helicopter in the downtown parade in Houston on Veterans Day last year. His co-pilot was CW2 Darrick McGill. The lead Apache was expertly piloted by CW3 Roka (Rock) Wolgamott and co-piloted by CW2 Dusty Davis and they were followed by CW2 Ross Hovey and his front-seater was CW2 Jonathan Johnson.
Apparently this was a death-defying act! We were in Baghdad together and he said the flight that day was more frightening than most of the flying he did over there! The buildings downtown were only 75 feet apart and his span on the helo is about 50 feet! Warrant Officer Sweeney, aka Coco, lives here in Coldspring with his children, Brooke & Lucas Sweeney and his sister Sue Sweeney. If you live in Conroe, you may see him flying overhead a lot. He is based out of Lone Star Executive Airport. He belongs to the 7/6 Calvary Regiment. So, those guys you see practicing are doing it for a reason. And when you do see them, take a moment to say a silent “thank you” or heck, yell it till your throat hurts!
Until you’ve been in a war or a war zone you cannot begin to understand the level of commitment the men and women serving your country have embraced. Almost every day people ask me what it was like “over there”. Being Veteran’s Day today and having a chopper fly over my restaurant today made me remember this article and want to re-run it…
The military hospital is called the CASH (combat support hospital; incidentally, they used to be called M*A*S*H hospitals so says Col. Uncle Bill). When I first arrived I was sick with flu-like symptoms for the first three months. The doctors and civilians called it the Baghdad bug and many people were sick with it. So, I was in the CASH a lot. Then my neck stiffened up on me and I could not turn my head so I was in physical therapy for about six-8 weeks every day.
While I was hanging out at the hospital I would visit soldiers who were wounded and find out about their injuries and their lives at home and where they came from. Most of the soldiers had their purple hearts or their silver stars sitting right by their bedside. I caught a few of them watching Oprah, but as soon as I’d walk in and said “Hey, how’s it going?” they’d change the channel to WWF or something. (Not really WWF since we didn’t get that channel, but you get the idea!) And I never once called ‘em out on it. It was a secret among friends.
Other times, when I was coming in for treatment, I’d see a Chinook in the parking lot with a big red cross on it or a Blackhawk with blades running. Sometimes the medics would be taking soldiers off and carrying them in the CASH right in front of me. People screaming, men running, blood dripping. ER in a war zone. No commercials. No actors. No do-overs. Other times the only noise in all the area would be the deep, heavy thudding of the chopper blades. Either scenario was a grave situation. Those young men were in that chopper, on that gurney, in those bandages, bleeding red-for me. (And not all of them were Americans. This is a coalition of forces.) And I would always say a little prayer before walking through those ominous glass sliding doors, because of what awaited me on the other side; a soldier or a marine would often be lying on a gurney with his buddies standing around him in prayer. And I always knew (or thought I did) if the young man would make it or not. Sometimes I couldn’t even get through my physical therapy session b/c I was crying so hard. Probably what pulled at my heart more than anything is that I always expected to see a man; a grown man; an older man; a man who had lived most of his life; a man ready to die;. What I saw were men all right; it’s just that they were men at young boy’s ages; they hadn’t lived their lives; they just graduated from high school; they weren’t ready to die. But they were ready to fight for their country. Their faces were so young and so innocent, and yet so very brave.
At night, when we would all be sitting around winding down, we’d hear the choppers coming in; always, two-by-two. First one, then the other. If I was on the phone with a family member or friend I’d have to say, “Hold on, a chopper’s coming in” and after the chopper passed the person would start talking again and I’d have to say “Hold on, there’s another one coming in about 30 seconds”.
After being over there for a few months you could determine if an Apache, a Blackhawk or a Chinook was coming in. If it was a Chinook, chances were, the second one always had a big red cross painted on the side indicating there were wounded or fallen soldiers on board. The mood always fell to a heavy silence. Sometimes people would cry. It makes my heart beat fast just writing about it. We could hear the war in the background and we could always drown it out with laughter and chit chat and a few Coronas-naked not dressed-who had limes and salt? But, we could not drown out the sound of Chinooks coming in; two-by-two; first one, then the other. It was a heavy, thudding noise that cut through and drowned out our laughter as if demanding attention and prayer; respect and thought. It was ominous, surreal and sad.
And sometimes hearing the choppers coming in, feeling them come in, well, it felt patriotic, brave and warrior-like. I miss the sounds of the choppers flying over-head at night, rocking my hooch (where we lived-term brought back from the Vietnam War). I miss the feeling that I am well protected and loved by those who know me not. I miss feeling protected by the best armed forces in the world simply because I was blessed enough, by God, to be born an American.
So this veteran’s day, when I flew my flag I flew it out of respect for veterans of wars past, but especially for the young men and women who are fighting now. The one’s I’ve met and the one’s I know not. God bless them and God bless America!
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Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Change We Can ALL Believe In
by Crystal Laramore Lutz
Edited by Deborah K. Martin
As you all know I’ve been out of commission for a couple of weeks with the very competent Deborah K. Martin filling in for me as I avoid getting older.
Yes, I’m approaching my 45th birthday. I know, I KNOW, I don’t LOOK 45, but as my plastic surgeon says, “How old you are is your business; how old you LOOK is ours". Anyway, I've had a lot more than usual random thoughts roaming round in my head lately.
Just the other day we were all sitting at the new and improved Crystal’s Patio & Grille’s new bar watching the 52” LCD HD while Fox News (is there any other?) informed the world about some pirates who had kidnapped a couple and were holding them for ransom! Pirates?! Really? They’re back?
Well, yes they are back but unlike the bell-bottomed, corduroyed scoundrels we all knew and loved, these pirates have changed and not in a good way. Gone are the dreadlocks and man-liner along with eye patches, sheathed swords, three point hats, fancy belts with HUGE buckles and hairy chests. Pardon me, but I’d be less offended about the whole “the pirates are back” thing if we could just have our swashbucklers back instead of these metro-sexual, plain clothed pirate wannabe’s. And really, you’re not supposed to kidnap people – that’s a sin against the pirate rules. You are supposed to hunt down the treasure yourself and steal it from the first people who found it! Not only are the new pirates inadequate, unsexy and unappealing but they are impostors!
Come to think of it, we miss the real pirates so much the theme of this year’s Halloween party at the restaurant was pirates, wenches and gypsies. My husband was the Johnny Depp, swashbuckling kind of pirate and I was a gypsy. No fair asking how long the costumes stayed on but we DID have that extra hour Saturday night!
Speaking of Halloween, it was a full moon all weekend and I felt like I was in an “Eastwick” episode most of the time. Change was in the hair, ahem air – bwah hahaha!! It all started on Friday night when an enchanting young (-er than most of us) couple came into the restaurant for the first time. They were from Arizona, land of dry air, great hair and pretty people.
Speaking of great hair, all the charm seemed to be coming from the woman’s long black hair which I decided I just MUST have! Black hair that is, not HER hair…anyway, my hairdresser and FORMER friend (snicker) Kay Lynn was sitting at the bar and she concurred about me doing the black hair thing. Then Leah McCarty and Paula Harper followed suit; and did I mention it was a full moon and...?? So the witches of Coldspring danced across the street under a full moon, protected by a cloud of pixie dust sprinkled by the enchanting couple, after midnight for some...change.
It’s really been more like a “shock and awe” campaign than change but I’m rolling with it. The Rasmussen poll is 95% FOR the enchanting black hair aka “change” and 5% in favor of the blonde with one inch roots…so with the new black hair, the Dr. Mark Barlow special and the new weather in the air, I’m feeling like I’m likin’ change, baby. But remember, things are cyclical and in another 10 years…..blonde could be back.
Anyway, the real thing always shows up every ten years or so in some fashion or song or piece of furniture, etc. The very first time I can remember a fashion coming back around I was a youngster at my grandmother’s house in Austin. Dresses with wide bands around the hips were all the craze and my mother had bought my grandmother one for Mother’s Day. She was having NO part of that! “I didn’t wear ‘em back then and I don’t know what makes you think I’m gonna wear ‘em now!”
Since then many things have come back around that I remember, which means we’re all getting old. Whenever a new song like “My Boyfriend’s Back” by the Ravonette’s comes on the radio it’s always funny to see the “Man, you are so hip and cool” (except, Deb adds, young people don’t use those words, only us older folks do - snicker) expression on a teenager’s face when we know ALL the words! I LOVE that!
I’ve said all that to say this – life is short, embrace change. And for change YOU can believe in call
Mark Barlow, MD, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon (281-333-8999)
Kay Lynn Arrendell, Professional Hair Stylist (281-659-5250)
(Personal references available at Crystal’s Patio & Grille!)
Edited by Deborah K. Martin
As you all know I’ve been out of commission for a couple of weeks with the very competent Deborah K. Martin filling in for me as I avoid getting older.
Yes, I’m approaching my 45th birthday. I know, I KNOW, I don’t LOOK 45, but as my plastic surgeon says, “How old you are is your business; how old you LOOK is ours". Anyway, I've had a lot more than usual random thoughts roaming round in my head lately.
Just the other day we were all sitting at the new and improved Crystal’s Patio & Grille’s new bar watching the 52” LCD HD while Fox News (is there any other?) informed the world about some pirates who had kidnapped a couple and were holding them for ransom! Pirates?! Really? They’re back?
Well, yes they are back but unlike the bell-bottomed, corduroyed scoundrels we all knew and loved, these pirates have changed and not in a good way. Gone are the dreadlocks and man-liner along with eye patches, sheathed swords, three point hats, fancy belts with HUGE buckles and hairy chests. Pardon me, but I’d be less offended about the whole “the pirates are back” thing if we could just have our swashbucklers back instead of these metro-sexual, plain clothed pirate wannabe’s. And really, you’re not supposed to kidnap people – that’s a sin against the pirate rules. You are supposed to hunt down the treasure yourself and steal it from the first people who found it! Not only are the new pirates inadequate, unsexy and unappealing but they are impostors!
Come to think of it, we miss the real pirates so much the theme of this year’s Halloween party at the restaurant was pirates, wenches and gypsies. My husband was the Johnny Depp, swashbuckling kind of pirate and I was a gypsy. No fair asking how long the costumes stayed on but we DID have that extra hour Saturday night!
Speaking of Halloween, it was a full moon all weekend and I felt like I was in an “Eastwick” episode most of the time. Change was in the hair, ahem air – bwah hahaha!! It all started on Friday night when an enchanting young (-er than most of us) couple came into the restaurant for the first time. They were from Arizona, land of dry air, great hair and pretty people.
Speaking of great hair, all the charm seemed to be coming from the woman’s long black hair which I decided I just MUST have! Black hair that is, not HER hair…anyway, my hairdresser and FORMER friend (snicker) Kay Lynn was sitting at the bar and she concurred about me doing the black hair thing. Then Leah McCarty and Paula Harper followed suit; and did I mention it was a full moon and...?? So the witches of Coldspring danced across the street under a full moon, protected by a cloud of pixie dust sprinkled by the enchanting couple, after midnight for some...change.
It’s really been more like a “shock and awe” campaign than change but I’m rolling with it. The Rasmussen poll is 95% FOR the enchanting black hair aka “change” and 5% in favor of the blonde with one inch roots…so with the new black hair, the Dr. Mark Barlow special and the new weather in the air, I’m feeling like I’m likin’ change, baby. But remember, things are cyclical and in another 10 years…..blonde could be back.
Anyway, the real thing always shows up every ten years or so in some fashion or song or piece of furniture, etc. The very first time I can remember a fashion coming back around I was a youngster at my grandmother’s house in Austin. Dresses with wide bands around the hips were all the craze and my mother had bought my grandmother one for Mother’s Day. She was having NO part of that! “I didn’t wear ‘em back then and I don’t know what makes you think I’m gonna wear ‘em now!”
Since then many things have come back around that I remember, which means we’re all getting old. Whenever a new song like “My Boyfriend’s Back” by the Ravonette’s comes on the radio it’s always funny to see the “Man, you are so hip and cool” (except, Deb adds, young people don’t use those words, only us older folks do - snicker) expression on a teenager’s face when we know ALL the words! I LOVE that!
I’ve said all that to say this – life is short, embrace change. And for change YOU can believe in call
Mark Barlow, MD, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon (281-333-8999)
Kay Lynn Arrendell, Professional Hair Stylist (281-659-5250)
(Personal references available at Crystal’s Patio & Grille!)
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Ted Kennedy-Hero or Hindrance?
By Deborah Martin
Edited by Crystal Laramore
WARNING: If you are a tried and true Kennedy lover to the exclusion of all reason, just set this article aside or give it to one of your more reality-based friends.
Ted Kennedy, senator from Massachusetts died last week and since then there has been a virtually endless deluge of praise from family, friends, colleagues and our “state run” media. He has been praised as the Lion of the Senate, the rock and anchor of his family, the most influential and accomplished legislator of our time. Really? He was?
Perhaps he was those things and to tell the truth, when someone dies it is customary to leave out their faults and remember their virtues. We all tend to forget the infinite ways deceased relatives drove us crazy. When it’s our leaders, we want to remember the good stuff. We want to count up all their accomplishments. It’s natural. No one wants to be critical of the dead. After all, they can’t defend themselves. Right, Mary Jo?
And when it’s a Kennedy, well this country goes into overdrive. After all, they’re the closest thing we have to royalty; they are a dynasty. They certainly have all the qualities of royalty. Money, looks, power, tragedy, glamour, romance. We have been watching this family since the 1940’s or earlier. We hang on their every accomplishment like they invented water or something.
I don’t really want this article to be all about Ted Kennedy and his shortcomings, though they were many. It’s really about who we hold up as our heroes. Who do we respect? How many flaws and what sorts of flaws do we tolerate in our leaders? Is drunkenness okay, or negligent homicide? How about cheating? Lying? How about rape or attempted rape? And why does the Kennedy family seem to get a pass on the same kinds of things which have destroyed the lives and careers of the rest of us mere mortals?
Flaws aside and to be fair (which as a conservative I am compelled to be) - in at least one way the Kennedy dynasty was and is quite remarkable. Whether or not you agree with their politics you have to agree that they all seem to have a strong bent toward public service. Jack, Bobby and Ted were all senators. Jack was even elected President, which in 1960 was amazing seeing that he was an Irish Catholic back when people still thought those things mattered. Various nephews have served in Congress. The Shriver branch of the family started The Peace Corps AND the Special Olympics!
Well, that’s the family as a whole, but what about Ted since he’s the one who died this week and effectively ended an era. It doesn’t look like younger Kennedy’s have the drive the original group had. They’re branching out, getting out of politics. And good for them, but I digress.
Does Ted Kennedy deserve the praise being heaped on him since his death? What about the other side of his life. I’ve learned some interesting things lately. A lot I already knew, all of it pretty twisted and yes, I did my research. Everything in this article is true. Did you know that he was kicked out of Harvard the first time around for cheating? He had someone else take a test for him. Yes, it’s true. And I have to add that as a parent I am certain that this wasn’t the first time he did it, just the first time he got caught!
The Kennedy family seems to be plagued by plane crashes. Ted lost two siblings that way and a nephew. He survived his own crash by flying while intoxicated. Only his two passengers were killed in that crash. Seems like he couldn’t learn his lesson because in 1969 the most famous incident happened – Chappaquiddick.
After a night of partying he drove a car carrying his 28 year old companion, Mary Jo Kopechne off a bridge and into a pond. He escaped. She did not. However, he waited nine hours before reporting the accident. In the meantime, he walked back to his motel, complained to the manager about a noisy party, took a shower, went to sleep, ordered newspapers when he woke up and spoke to a friend and two lawyers before finally calling the police. This is when the phrase, “the Kennedy curse” was coined, and guess who coined it? Ted. Why? Perhaps to take attention from what he did and make him a victim instead of a perpetrator.
You know what the worst part is? Mary Jo did not drown. She survived for several hours in an air pocket before succumbing to a lack of oxygen. Had he gone straight to the authorities she likely would have lived but you’ll rarely read about that. Wonder why he waited? Could it be – let me think – maybe – just possibly – he was drinking? Did he feel entitled? Was he a spoiled rich kid? Oh, and another thing – he never spent a day in jail for this crime. His family arranged for money to be given to the Kopechne family as if that would make a difference. Apparently, for them, it made some difference because they took the money.
After that, his political ambitions for President were effectively DOA even though he did try. Only a Kennedy would have the nerve to try that with so much of his bad behavior public. Ted Kennedy, like his brothers and father, was a notorious drunk and womanizer. He was known to proposition virtually any reasonably attractive female when he was drinking and there were several incidents at his favorite restaurant where he would bodily try (and sometimes succeed) in forcing himself on the unlucky waitress who had to wait on him and his companion (by the name of Dodd) in a private dining room. I assume they were tipped VERY well.
I also heard this week that he actually enjoyed Chappaquiddick jokes. If I didn’t already have a bad opinion of him that certainly did it for me. It was said by his defenders that he finds the ridiculous in any situation. What??!! The only things ridiculous about that situation is that he felt no remorse, never apologized to her family and never did a day’s jail time over it. What kind of twisted person finds humor in any situation where a person loses their life?
Speaking of his title “Lion of the Senate” I once saw him on live HDTV speaking loudly with spittle spewing forth, fist shaking, standing up for “the little people” saying “And we’re gonna raise minimum wage, and raise it, and raise it and raise it”! Really, how does that help “the little people”? How does that encourage the small business owner (who drives 85% of the GDP) to hire more people and give them more hours? Why didn’t Ted give some of HIS money away? Why didn’t he lower his salary? I’m betting because it’s easier to give away other people’s money. Doesn’t hurt quite so bad. Careful people who ya follow.
Did you notice how pleasant his last days were? He was on the sail boat. He was pampered by wait staff. He had the very best health care our country has to offer. He had NO end-of-life counseling. His brain tumor was incurable yet he received enough care and medicine to live comfortably for an additional year. I do not begrudge him this. I’m just curious why he begrudges his constituents and the rest of the country the same care. Maybe he’s just entitled…
And I’m sorry but am I the only one who thinks the good DOESN’T outweigh the bad? It seems pretty significant to me that the Catholic Church, which Ted professed to put so much faith in, completely ignored his passing. His lionization says a lot about our society and what drives us these days. Crystal always says follow the money and I guess, unfortunately, that’s right. Any lesser mortal would have been (and IS) driven from society for such consistently abhorrent behavior.
It makes me sad and angry that we tolerate this stuff. Is it so wrong to expect our public officials and our heroes to be circumspect in their private lives? This isn’t just a problem with politics or with folks like the Kennedy’s. Look at the people we hold up as role models. We have football players who break every rule, yet are still allowed to play. We tolerate bad attitudes and immoral behavior. I believe in redemption. You do the crime, do the time and you’re done. If you stay clean you deserve another chance. Did Ted Kennedy deserve another chance at Harvard? How about after the drunken plane crash? Or the drive into the pond? And it’s a little scary that these are the things we KNOW about?
Call me a prude, or a throwback. I want men and women in politics, in court, in my doctor’s office, teaching my kids and running my bank to have some character, some backbone. Stand up for what’s right – ALL the time, not just when it’s convenient or a camera is shining on you or a microphone is in your face; in the little ways, behind the scenes, when no one knows but you. Unlike much of Ted Kennedy’s life – do the right thing, just because it’s right.
Edited by Crystal Laramore
WARNING: If you are a tried and true Kennedy lover to the exclusion of all reason, just set this article aside or give it to one of your more reality-based friends.
Ted Kennedy, senator from Massachusetts died last week and since then there has been a virtually endless deluge of praise from family, friends, colleagues and our “state run” media. He has been praised as the Lion of the Senate, the rock and anchor of his family, the most influential and accomplished legislator of our time. Really? He was?
Perhaps he was those things and to tell the truth, when someone dies it is customary to leave out their faults and remember their virtues. We all tend to forget the infinite ways deceased relatives drove us crazy. When it’s our leaders, we want to remember the good stuff. We want to count up all their accomplishments. It’s natural. No one wants to be critical of the dead. After all, they can’t defend themselves. Right, Mary Jo?
And when it’s a Kennedy, well this country goes into overdrive. After all, they’re the closest thing we have to royalty; they are a dynasty. They certainly have all the qualities of royalty. Money, looks, power, tragedy, glamour, romance. We have been watching this family since the 1940’s or earlier. We hang on their every accomplishment like they invented water or something.
I don’t really want this article to be all about Ted Kennedy and his shortcomings, though they were many. It’s really about who we hold up as our heroes. Who do we respect? How many flaws and what sorts of flaws do we tolerate in our leaders? Is drunkenness okay, or negligent homicide? How about cheating? Lying? How about rape or attempted rape? And why does the Kennedy family seem to get a pass on the same kinds of things which have destroyed the lives and careers of the rest of us mere mortals?
Flaws aside and to be fair (which as a conservative I am compelled to be) - in at least one way the Kennedy dynasty was and is quite remarkable. Whether or not you agree with their politics you have to agree that they all seem to have a strong bent toward public service. Jack, Bobby and Ted were all senators. Jack was even elected President, which in 1960 was amazing seeing that he was an Irish Catholic back when people still thought those things mattered. Various nephews have served in Congress. The Shriver branch of the family started The Peace Corps AND the Special Olympics!
Well, that’s the family as a whole, but what about Ted since he’s the one who died this week and effectively ended an era. It doesn’t look like younger Kennedy’s have the drive the original group had. They’re branching out, getting out of politics. And good for them, but I digress.
Does Ted Kennedy deserve the praise being heaped on him since his death? What about the other side of his life. I’ve learned some interesting things lately. A lot I already knew, all of it pretty twisted and yes, I did my research. Everything in this article is true. Did you know that he was kicked out of Harvard the first time around for cheating? He had someone else take a test for him. Yes, it’s true. And I have to add that as a parent I am certain that this wasn’t the first time he did it, just the first time he got caught!
The Kennedy family seems to be plagued by plane crashes. Ted lost two siblings that way and a nephew. He survived his own crash by flying while intoxicated. Only his two passengers were killed in that crash. Seems like he couldn’t learn his lesson because in 1969 the most famous incident happened – Chappaquiddick.
After a night of partying he drove a car carrying his 28 year old companion, Mary Jo Kopechne off a bridge and into a pond. He escaped. She did not. However, he waited nine hours before reporting the accident. In the meantime, he walked back to his motel, complained to the manager about a noisy party, took a shower, went to sleep, ordered newspapers when he woke up and spoke to a friend and two lawyers before finally calling the police. This is when the phrase, “the Kennedy curse” was coined, and guess who coined it? Ted. Why? Perhaps to take attention from what he did and make him a victim instead of a perpetrator.
You know what the worst part is? Mary Jo did not drown. She survived for several hours in an air pocket before succumbing to a lack of oxygen. Had he gone straight to the authorities she likely would have lived but you’ll rarely read about that. Wonder why he waited? Could it be – let me think – maybe – just possibly – he was drinking? Did he feel entitled? Was he a spoiled rich kid? Oh, and another thing – he never spent a day in jail for this crime. His family arranged for money to be given to the Kopechne family as if that would make a difference. Apparently, for them, it made some difference because they took the money.
After that, his political ambitions for President were effectively DOA even though he did try. Only a Kennedy would have the nerve to try that with so much of his bad behavior public. Ted Kennedy, like his brothers and father, was a notorious drunk and womanizer. He was known to proposition virtually any reasonably attractive female when he was drinking and there were several incidents at his favorite restaurant where he would bodily try (and sometimes succeed) in forcing himself on the unlucky waitress who had to wait on him and his companion (by the name of Dodd) in a private dining room. I assume they were tipped VERY well.
I also heard this week that he actually enjoyed Chappaquiddick jokes. If I didn’t already have a bad opinion of him that certainly did it for me. It was said by his defenders that he finds the ridiculous in any situation. What??!! The only things ridiculous about that situation is that he felt no remorse, never apologized to her family and never did a day’s jail time over it. What kind of twisted person finds humor in any situation where a person loses their life?
Speaking of his title “Lion of the Senate” I once saw him on live HDTV speaking loudly with spittle spewing forth, fist shaking, standing up for “the little people” saying “And we’re gonna raise minimum wage, and raise it, and raise it and raise it”! Really, how does that help “the little people”? How does that encourage the small business owner (who drives 85% of the GDP) to hire more people and give them more hours? Why didn’t Ted give some of HIS money away? Why didn’t he lower his salary? I’m betting because it’s easier to give away other people’s money. Doesn’t hurt quite so bad. Careful people who ya follow.
Did you notice how pleasant his last days were? He was on the sail boat. He was pampered by wait staff. He had the very best health care our country has to offer. He had NO end-of-life counseling. His brain tumor was incurable yet he received enough care and medicine to live comfortably for an additional year. I do not begrudge him this. I’m just curious why he begrudges his constituents and the rest of the country the same care. Maybe he’s just entitled…
And I’m sorry but am I the only one who thinks the good DOESN’T outweigh the bad? It seems pretty significant to me that the Catholic Church, which Ted professed to put so much faith in, completely ignored his passing. His lionization says a lot about our society and what drives us these days. Crystal always says follow the money and I guess, unfortunately, that’s right. Any lesser mortal would have been (and IS) driven from society for such consistently abhorrent behavior.
It makes me sad and angry that we tolerate this stuff. Is it so wrong to expect our public officials and our heroes to be circumspect in their private lives? This isn’t just a problem with politics or with folks like the Kennedy’s. Look at the people we hold up as role models. We have football players who break every rule, yet are still allowed to play. We tolerate bad attitudes and immoral behavior. I believe in redemption. You do the crime, do the time and you’re done. If you stay clean you deserve another chance. Did Ted Kennedy deserve another chance at Harvard? How about after the drunken plane crash? Or the drive into the pond? And it’s a little scary that these are the things we KNOW about?
Call me a prude, or a throwback. I want men and women in politics, in court, in my doctor’s office, teaching my kids and running my bank to have some character, some backbone. Stand up for what’s right – ALL the time, not just when it’s convenient or a camera is shining on you or a microphone is in your face; in the little ways, behind the scenes, when no one knows but you. Unlike much of Ted Kennedy’s life – do the right thing, just because it’s right.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Oh Oprah...
by Crystal Laramore
edited by Deborah Martin & Cheryl Laramore
…you were right; He IS the one! He IS the one who is trying to destroy the American dream one sector at a time. He IS the one who is trying to destroy the best medical care system in the world. He IS the one who is trying to divide our country down racial lines instead of uniting us, as he so eloquently promised while holding the hand of his mighty, all-knowing teleprompter.
He IS the one who is trying to make a joke of your hard work and success because it flies in the face of his end goal – total dependence on government! He IS the one who is trying to press you to work harder for less. Why? So that many of his followers (aka voters) can NOT work at all and get more for it. More from us, Oprah. Maybe you have soooooo much money that you just don’t care anymore. Well Oprah-I don’t and I do!
He IS the one getting mainstream conservative Americans off our lazy butts to take back our country. He IS the one who is motivating average working Americans across the nation to get back to the basics of our constitution. He IS the one who showing the American people just how elitist Washington D.C. really is.
He IS the one responsible for Americans rallying together to stand up to our Congressmen and remind them that THEY work for US, just as Hillary Clinton suggested we do when George W. Bush was President. Hey Pelosi, are you listening? What's good for the left hand is good for the Right! Get it?!
He IS the one who proudly proclaimed his background as a simple hardworking community organizer. Just a grassroots kind of guy trying to better the community and now he has the NERVE to criticize and marginalize those who stand up in Town Hall meetings to proclaim their objections to the hastily slapped-together legislation HE is calling reform? And if that weren’t bad enough he has actually asked his supporters to report dissent directly to him? Can you say BIG BROTHER???!!!
And to take matters a step further the police tried to make the anti-health care Americans who attended the President’s Town Hall meeting in Massachusetts stand behind the front lines, behind the parking lot, under a grove of trees, while allowing the pro-health care Americans stand street-side. Can you say "hate crime"? Might as well be.
What the heck IS going on??? If they are afraid then they must be doing something wrong? If they really care about our wants, needs and desires then why are THEY using such antics to push through something the American people clearly DO NOT WANT? Follow the money. Always follow the money.
Medicare and Medicaid, Fanny Mae, Freddy Mac and Social Security...just a few examples of well run (snicker, snicker) governmental programs wrought with fraud, abusive, power hungry folks and financial leaks in the billions. Now let's just make government run health care bigger and let's include all illegal immigrants. What, do they get to vote if they have health care? What is the motivation to further tax our system by taking on and encouraging illegal immigration? Somebody PLEASE splain it to me, Lucy?
Over the last few weeks the news has been peppered with stories covering Town Hall meetings. After watching several of these I realized why our president wanted to get his health care bill passed BEFORE Congress went on recess – because he’s afraid that if they wait they won’t be able to stand the heat coming from their constituents. Smart man. However, it didn’t even come to a vote and now our voices are being heard - loud angry voices, I’m told. Well, hell yes we’re loud and angry. Congress does not work for the President, they work for us (we the people) yet they consistently do the President’s bidding, not OURS! Hey Congress-you are pandering to the wrong body of people! The last I checked WE THE PEOPLE put you in office, not we the president.
Obama and his cronies are accusing conservative Americans of tactics he’s quite familiar with; planting people who are against (wink wink) his cause, racism, partisanship, inciting violence, etc. You know what they say…when you point one finger three more are pointing right back atcha! Hey, Obama, don’t look now but your (community organizer, Chicago political machine) roots are showing and WE are just plain fed up with being manipulated.
My favorite story this week is about the African American man who was selling “Don’t Tread on Me” flags and buttons. Two black and one white SEIU men beat him up. What??!! Wonder if the president and his teleprompter will address this none-of-his-business issue and play the race card. Let’s see.
As horrible as it was for this man I believe the incident is going to be even worse for the libs because, guess what? The African American victim has an attorney and they plan to file civil charges using the libs own Hate Crime legislation! Snicker, Snicker! Oh, why go for a hate crime? Because the first black man to throw a punch called him a “F…ing Ni..er! Oh yes he did! He said “What kind of f…ing n…er are you” selling these flags?”
Seriously! I’m sorry, is every black person in America supposed to love the president and everything he does just because they belong to the same race? Talk about racist! Obama IS a product of Chicago politics at its worst. Given his upbringing, his consistent association with radicals and ruffians, how could this NOT start showing up?
Did his followers really think the tiger was going to change his stripes once in office? Did they really believe all that hope stuff? Are we really going to stand by and let our country become third world without a fight? I don’t think so and the August town hall meetings all over the country are evidence that Americans, liberal and conservative, are waking up and paying attention. PS. If you see anything "Fishy" in this article pls. report it to the White House aka Government Mobsters.
In closing, I’d like to quote a famous Japanese admiral who stated after Pearl Harbor: “I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant.” Obama, Pelosi, Reed, Senators, Congressmen... You’d better be paying attention because the giant is awake and he’s coming after YOU!
Tea anyone?
edited by Deborah Martin & Cheryl Laramore
…you were right; He IS the one! He IS the one who is trying to destroy the American dream one sector at a time. He IS the one who is trying to destroy the best medical care system in the world. He IS the one who is trying to divide our country down racial lines instead of uniting us, as he so eloquently promised while holding the hand of his mighty, all-knowing teleprompter.
He IS the one who is trying to make a joke of your hard work and success because it flies in the face of his end goal – total dependence on government! He IS the one who is trying to press you to work harder for less. Why? So that many of his followers (aka voters) can NOT work at all and get more for it. More from us, Oprah. Maybe you have soooooo much money that you just don’t care anymore. Well Oprah-I don’t and I do!
He IS the one getting mainstream conservative Americans off our lazy butts to take back our country. He IS the one who is motivating average working Americans across the nation to get back to the basics of our constitution. He IS the one who showing the American people just how elitist Washington D.C. really is.
He IS the one responsible for Americans rallying together to stand up to our Congressmen and remind them that THEY work for US, just as Hillary Clinton suggested we do when George W. Bush was President. Hey Pelosi, are you listening? What's good for the left hand is good for the Right! Get it?!
He IS the one who proudly proclaimed his background as a simple hardworking community organizer. Just a grassroots kind of guy trying to better the community and now he has the NERVE to criticize and marginalize those who stand up in Town Hall meetings to proclaim their objections to the hastily slapped-together legislation HE is calling reform? And if that weren’t bad enough he has actually asked his supporters to report dissent directly to him? Can you say BIG BROTHER???!!!
And to take matters a step further the police tried to make the anti-health care Americans who attended the President’s Town Hall meeting in Massachusetts stand behind the front lines, behind the parking lot, under a grove of trees, while allowing the pro-health care Americans stand street-side. Can you say "hate crime"? Might as well be.
What the heck IS going on??? If they are afraid then they must be doing something wrong? If they really care about our wants, needs and desires then why are THEY using such antics to push through something the American people clearly DO NOT WANT? Follow the money. Always follow the money.
Medicare and Medicaid, Fanny Mae, Freddy Mac and Social Security...just a few examples of well run (snicker, snicker) governmental programs wrought with fraud, abusive, power hungry folks and financial leaks in the billions. Now let's just make government run health care bigger and let's include all illegal immigrants. What, do they get to vote if they have health care? What is the motivation to further tax our system by taking on and encouraging illegal immigration? Somebody PLEASE splain it to me, Lucy?
Over the last few weeks the news has been peppered with stories covering Town Hall meetings. After watching several of these I realized why our president wanted to get his health care bill passed BEFORE Congress went on recess – because he’s afraid that if they wait they won’t be able to stand the heat coming from their constituents. Smart man. However, it didn’t even come to a vote and now our voices are being heard - loud angry voices, I’m told. Well, hell yes we’re loud and angry. Congress does not work for the President, they work for us (we the people) yet they consistently do the President’s bidding, not OURS! Hey Congress-you are pandering to the wrong body of people! The last I checked WE THE PEOPLE put you in office, not we the president.
Obama and his cronies are accusing conservative Americans of tactics he’s quite familiar with; planting people who are against (wink wink) his cause, racism, partisanship, inciting violence, etc. You know what they say…when you point one finger three more are pointing right back atcha! Hey, Obama, don’t look now but your (community organizer, Chicago political machine) roots are showing and WE are just plain fed up with being manipulated.
My favorite story this week is about the African American man who was selling “Don’t Tread on Me” flags and buttons. Two black and one white SEIU men beat him up. What??!! Wonder if the president and his teleprompter will address this none-of-his-business issue and play the race card. Let’s see.
As horrible as it was for this man I believe the incident is going to be even worse for the libs because, guess what? The African American victim has an attorney and they plan to file civil charges using the libs own Hate Crime legislation! Snicker, Snicker! Oh, why go for a hate crime? Because the first black man to throw a punch called him a “F…ing Ni..er! Oh yes he did! He said “What kind of f…ing n…er are you” selling these flags?”
Seriously! I’m sorry, is every black person in America supposed to love the president and everything he does just because they belong to the same race? Talk about racist! Obama IS a product of Chicago politics at its worst. Given his upbringing, his consistent association with radicals and ruffians, how could this NOT start showing up?
Did his followers really think the tiger was going to change his stripes once in office? Did they really believe all that hope stuff? Are we really going to stand by and let our country become third world without a fight? I don’t think so and the August town hall meetings all over the country are evidence that Americans, liberal and conservative, are waking up and paying attention. PS. If you see anything "Fishy" in this article pls. report it to the White House aka Government Mobsters.
In closing, I’d like to quote a famous Japanese admiral who stated after Pearl Harbor: “I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant.” Obama, Pelosi, Reed, Senators, Congressmen... You’d better be paying attention because the giant is awake and he’s coming after YOU!
Tea anyone?
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Got Change? When Pigs Fly-But Wait, Swine ‘Flew’!
By Crystal Laramore
Edited by Deborah Martin
Last week we talked about how race seems to be interjected into every situation these days and how Barack Obama seems to interject himself (AND race) into things which are none of his business.
He says it’s all about “change”. It was a common theme on the campaign trail and many, many people fell for it. They heard for months and years about how W was taking us down a baaaadddd road. I was never sure what they meant. They didn’t like the Patriot Act even though I’ve yet to hear of ANY innocent person losing their freedoms because of it. They didn’t like the War on Terror and now we don’t even call it that.
We’ve talked in this column before about the entitlement mentality and it seems to have settled on a target – healthcare. Man, people want EVERYthing taken care of for them. Nothing wrong with wanting care. We all need medical attention from time to time. But isn’t it out of hand when we expect every bump and scrape in addition to the big dogs like cancer, taken care of for free? Who do we think is going to pay for this??
Well, back to BHO. An ongoing none-of-the-government's-business issue is healthcare. Last week's speech by BHO was supposedly about healthcare until he deliberately sidetracked it and started talking about the police and race. Was that to sidetrack US into thinking about something other than the hugely invasive, highly expensive, totally unworkable healthcare bill he wants passed so fast that our Congressmen won't have time to read this one EITHER???
Healthcare IS an issue for some Americans these days but why, if health care, or lack thereof for the elderly, disabled, or incurably ill, is such a large issue is he using Gestapo tactics to try and push through a plan WE DON’T WANT and no one seems to have time to read? It took our President 6 months to decide what type of DOG to get for the family pet, surely rebuilding our health care system should have, at the very least, as much consideration right???
I do not have health care insurance, yet I have never been denied treatment. I’ve been to an emergency room several times over my lifetime and have been attended with professionalism and care. I have never been made to pay on the spot. I have been sent bills and have been given adequate time to pay them. They even have payment plans. Really.
But I see this one more as an overall treatise on BHO’s inability to continue to hide (I say that sarcastically) his true intentions 100% of the time. No matter what the issue, he carries a common theme – we are bad, everything we’ve done is bad, everything we have is bad, and only HE, THE ONE, can fix it. Many of us doubt his intentions when he speaks of “change”. We see the class of close friends, confidantes and associates he surrounds himself with. Even so, he was elected. He WON, as he likes to remind us.
He’s feeding the entitlement mentality with program after program which caters to those who can give him votes the next time around. All while he is lying to HIS voters; no new taxes on the middle/lower class. Really? Wait and see. Wait and see. I think he’s made a serious miscalculation. There may actually BE hope and change coming, but BHO and his ilk will be on the losing side this time. Just ask Arlen Specter and Kathlee Sebelius. It seems at least some of those blinded by the “light” have finally begun to regain their vision.
I am not rich but I do not want others to take care of me nor do I want to be forced to take care of others. I do, however, want the FREEDOM to take care of myself. And so does most of America. I also want a cortisone shot if I need one. And so do most hard working people. That is where I’m placing my hope right now – that the good, hardworking, moral people of this country are waking up to what is going on; deficits in the trillions; billion dollar programs which do little to actually alleviate problems; tax hikes on the horizon. Oh yes, mark my words. The changes are a coming -Nationalization of business, one small sector at a time.
BHO seemingly has an ax to grind with those who contribute to the GDP. You know, those of us who made it possible for him to be where he is today…in that big, white house. Maybe he doesn’t understand how much blood, sweat and tears it takes to make it possible for folks like him to have the lifestyle they have. Maybe it’s because he’s a taker and not giver that he doesn’t understand there’s only so much taking you can do.
He talks about making America great again but all his policies are aimed at making us just like most of the rest of the world – 2nd rate and 3rd world. He travels to lands far away to apologize for us, the greatest nation on earth. What kind of person is embarrassed by excellence? Isn’t that a little twisted?
I happen to be proud of the fact that we are a young country yet we are THE super power in the world! I happen to be proud that people from the lands he visits to do his Apology Act can’t wait to leave and come to the land he is apologizing for and have a better life; if they work hard. Maybe that’s it. Maybe he just never worked hard so he doesn’t get the point. Maybe he’s never had the satisfaction which comes from ACTUALLY pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. Maybe he should be president of a country he’s proud of instead of turning our country into one we are not proud of. Yeah, maybe that’s what he should do.
I want everyone to remember what profound words our president spewed forth into the universe with the help of his teleprompter, just days before the election. Mr. Obama said we are on the eve of fundamentally changing this country! Did anyone believe this was the type of change he had in mind? Is this the type of change YOU had in mind?
Tea anyone?
www.randomthoughtsonpaper-crystal.blogspot.com
www.thedamgoodtimes.blogspot.com
www.sexinthewoods.blogspot.com
Edited by Deborah Martin
Last week we talked about how race seems to be interjected into every situation these days and how Barack Obama seems to interject himself (AND race) into things which are none of his business.
He says it’s all about “change”. It was a common theme on the campaign trail and many, many people fell for it. They heard for months and years about how W was taking us down a baaaadddd road. I was never sure what they meant. They didn’t like the Patriot Act even though I’ve yet to hear of ANY innocent person losing their freedoms because of it. They didn’t like the War on Terror and now we don’t even call it that.
We’ve talked in this column before about the entitlement mentality and it seems to have settled on a target – healthcare. Man, people want EVERYthing taken care of for them. Nothing wrong with wanting care. We all need medical attention from time to time. But isn’t it out of hand when we expect every bump and scrape in addition to the big dogs like cancer, taken care of for free? Who do we think is going to pay for this??
Well, back to BHO. An ongoing none-of-the-government's-business issue is healthcare. Last week's speech by BHO was supposedly about healthcare until he deliberately sidetracked it and started talking about the police and race. Was that to sidetrack US into thinking about something other than the hugely invasive, highly expensive, totally unworkable healthcare bill he wants passed so fast that our Congressmen won't have time to read this one EITHER???
Healthcare IS an issue for some Americans these days but why, if health care, or lack thereof for the elderly, disabled, or incurably ill, is such a large issue is he using Gestapo tactics to try and push through a plan WE DON’T WANT and no one seems to have time to read? It took our President 6 months to decide what type of DOG to get for the family pet, surely rebuilding our health care system should have, at the very least, as much consideration right???
I do not have health care insurance, yet I have never been denied treatment. I’ve been to an emergency room several times over my lifetime and have been attended with professionalism and care. I have never been made to pay on the spot. I have been sent bills and have been given adequate time to pay them. They even have payment plans. Really.
But I see this one more as an overall treatise on BHO’s inability to continue to hide (I say that sarcastically) his true intentions 100% of the time. No matter what the issue, he carries a common theme – we are bad, everything we’ve done is bad, everything we have is bad, and only HE, THE ONE, can fix it. Many of us doubt his intentions when he speaks of “change”. We see the class of close friends, confidantes and associates he surrounds himself with. Even so, he was elected. He WON, as he likes to remind us.
He’s feeding the entitlement mentality with program after program which caters to those who can give him votes the next time around. All while he is lying to HIS voters; no new taxes on the middle/lower class. Really? Wait and see. Wait and see. I think he’s made a serious miscalculation. There may actually BE hope and change coming, but BHO and his ilk will be on the losing side this time. Just ask Arlen Specter and Kathlee Sebelius. It seems at least some of those blinded by the “light” have finally begun to regain their vision.
I am not rich but I do not want others to take care of me nor do I want to be forced to take care of others. I do, however, want the FREEDOM to take care of myself. And so does most of America. I also want a cortisone shot if I need one. And so do most hard working people. That is where I’m placing my hope right now – that the good, hardworking, moral people of this country are waking up to what is going on; deficits in the trillions; billion dollar programs which do little to actually alleviate problems; tax hikes on the horizon. Oh yes, mark my words. The changes are a coming -Nationalization of business, one small sector at a time.
BHO seemingly has an ax to grind with those who contribute to the GDP. You know, those of us who made it possible for him to be where he is today…in that big, white house. Maybe he doesn’t understand how much blood, sweat and tears it takes to make it possible for folks like him to have the lifestyle they have. Maybe it’s because he’s a taker and not giver that he doesn’t understand there’s only so much taking you can do.
He talks about making America great again but all his policies are aimed at making us just like most of the rest of the world – 2nd rate and 3rd world. He travels to lands far away to apologize for us, the greatest nation on earth. What kind of person is embarrassed by excellence? Isn’t that a little twisted?
I happen to be proud of the fact that we are a young country yet we are THE super power in the world! I happen to be proud that people from the lands he visits to do his Apology Act can’t wait to leave and come to the land he is apologizing for and have a better life; if they work hard. Maybe that’s it. Maybe he just never worked hard so he doesn’t get the point. Maybe he’s never had the satisfaction which comes from ACTUALLY pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. Maybe he should be president of a country he’s proud of instead of turning our country into one we are not proud of. Yeah, maybe that’s what he should do.
I want everyone to remember what profound words our president spewed forth into the universe with the help of his teleprompter, just days before the election. Mr. Obama said we are on the eve of fundamentally changing this country! Did anyone believe this was the type of change he had in mind? Is this the type of change YOU had in mind?
Tea anyone?
www.randomthoughtsonpaper-crystal.blogspot.com
www.thedamgoodtimes.blogspot.com
www.sexinthewoods.blogspot.com
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
It Don’t Matter if You’re Left or Right…
Random Thoughts on Paper
By Crystal Laramore
Heavy-handed editing/commentary by: Deborah Martin & Cheryl Laramore
It’s bad. It’s bad. Shamon. Hey, this is how my brain tied MJ into politics. Please. Hold your applause.
Is our PRESIDENT perpetuating racism? I’m reminded of the song lyrics “Don’t hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself”. His hands do not need to be in a local matter regarding police officers and a private citizen. His opinions on racial profiling were off-base. And like everything, it seems he did not have adequate information to be making such a speech.
The 911 call which started this whole thing has now been released. The call wasn't racially motivated. She lady who called only mentioned a possible "Hispanic" connection AFTER she was asked about race. So race wasn't on HER mind. The officer who made the arrest is a racial profiling expert and from all accounts he's a straight up guy; not racially motivated and not power hungry, so race wasn’t on HIS mind either.
At some point we will hear everything about this arrest because the stupid officer's microphone was on the whole time. Snicker. THEN we can make a definitive judgment about this situation. Until that time, we can only go on what has been reported and it doesn't look good for our Harvard professor. For a well-educated, intelligent guy, he sure flew off the handle quickly. HE was the one who brought up race instead of trying to find out what legitimate reason the police had for being in his home.
We suppose if you are black and it looks like you are trying to break into someone’s house you shouldn’t be arrested. You know - cuz you’re black - and that might be considered racial profiling. Are you flipping kidding me???????? WHO’S racist? We’re all confused here; and, getting more and more confused as the months drag and drag on…to the next election.
So how do we handle these situations, which seemingly are started by the very people who feel discriminated against and looked down on? I've got to say that us white folks are between a Barack and a hard place. It seems nothing we do is good enough and when we do the right thing we MUST be doing it for the wrong reasons. My best friend, Jasmine, works for a company where the racial makeup goes like this - 45% black, 25% Hispanic, 20% white and the rest divided among people from the Far-East.
Jasmine doesn't hear much from most of the groups regarding racism but, the most vocal about racism is the black group. They complain about other blacks who make friends with the whites. "Oh, she's just tryin' to be white!" What???!! This is something which mystifies Jasmine, who is white and could care less about someone's skin color. Aren't people just people? Don't we all love our kids, work hard at our jobs, worry about our old age, like to have fun? She always thought so, but apparently there's some fundamental difference between the races.
At the same time Gates’ story was being sprayed on HD televisions across the nation another one was also being covered; three young boys arrested for stealing items from a neighbor’s yard. The boys were black and white. And the nation, black and white alike, seemed to be on the side of the children. Yes, even though there was a black child among them, Mr. President.
Like so many people out there I am sick of our so-called leaders playing the “race card”. Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton and now it seems our President talk more about racism than I have ever heard any of my friends talk about it. Furthermore, I’ve never heard SO MUCH about racism since WE ALL elected a BLACK president. Does nothing work?
It doesn’t matter if you are left or right of the issue; right is right and wrong is wrong; be you black, white, brown, purple or fuchsia. No one sector of society should be given special or preferential or less than legal treatment, not even the New Haven firefighters. Remember when they were not given promotions b/c they were white? If it’s not right to discriminate against the color black or brown then it certainly isn’t right to discriminate against the color white. Period. Where the hell IS that “Easy” button?
Spewing on and on about racism will only cause it to be a sore spot among the people. It will only serve to perpetuate the great divide; not close the gap, Mr. President. What in the world is the motivation behind such speeches? Why the antics? Do they (the far-left, black leaders among us) want racism to continue to exist? Why would they? So they can keep getting votes from a particular sector of society? You tell me.
I always say “follow the money”. Many of my colleagues and friends (black and white and brown-let’s be clear-I’m not a racist and don’t care what color your skin is) believe some far-left, black leaders need racism like MJ needed Propofol. Without it they have no demonstrations or rallies to organize. And they are SUCH good organizers! Have you ever heard the term “poverty pimps”? Well, now you have.
Wasn’t Barack Hussein Obama supposed to be talking about his health care plan? Talk about “stupid”. So he insinuated a police officer was racist during his “Health Care” speech. What did racism have to do with health care (I shouldn’t have asked right? Is that next? You’re not getting treated b/c you’re black? Maybe that is his tie-in…). Where was I? Oh yeah, Nothing. Racism and health care have nothing to do with each other. It was obvious to any half-wit the question was staged so he could make a point. Why? Because clearly, he wants to continue the class struggle. He’s an instigator! Otherwise; he would have surely said I don’t know enough to comment. Surely.
What is the motivation of our President and other leaders to drum up hatred and impune reputations? Why does this man seem to hate our country so much? Barack Hussein Obama (BHO) has become the “bus chaser” of issues that Jackson and Sharpton are – never hesitating to glom onto an otherwise run of the mill occurrence if he sees an opportunity to tie it to race, thinking he’s making himself look the hero to “his people”! And we whiteys just don’t understand the plight of the black man!!
HELLO – I would be thanking the police and my neighbors for ensuring my property was safe. Why would Mr. Gates not do the same? Why would he make a stand refusing to show ID? BECAUSE, like BHO, Jackson, Sharpton and others – their FIRST thought goes to their own racism – against whites. And, as BHO’s bud, Rahm Emanuel, says - never waste a good crisis!! The bigger problem we see is that BHO saw this incident as something befitting a presidential response but the stealing of Iran ’s election by a thug who wants to destroy us and Israel from the face of the earth was not?? REALLY???!!!!
Racism will never go away as long as each group sees the other as a threat for whatever reason. Blacks will never feel safe and whites will never be able to do enough. And back to the original subject - our president is going straight back to his community organizer roots by agitating the situation. If he said in one breath that "he didn't have all the facts" then he should have STOPPED THERE. End of comments. But he didn't. So you tell me what his motivation was?
Tea anyone?
www.randomthoughtsonpaper-crystal.blogspot.com
www.sexinthewoods.blogspot.com
www.thedamgoodtimes.blogspot.com
By Crystal Laramore
Heavy-handed editing/commentary by: Deborah Martin & Cheryl Laramore
It’s bad. It’s bad. Shamon. Hey, this is how my brain tied MJ into politics. Please. Hold your applause.
Is our PRESIDENT perpetuating racism? I’m reminded of the song lyrics “Don’t hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself”. His hands do not need to be in a local matter regarding police officers and a private citizen. His opinions on racial profiling were off-base. And like everything, it seems he did not have adequate information to be making such a speech.
The 911 call which started this whole thing has now been released. The call wasn't racially motivated. She lady who called only mentioned a possible "Hispanic" connection AFTER she was asked about race. So race wasn't on HER mind. The officer who made the arrest is a racial profiling expert and from all accounts he's a straight up guy; not racially motivated and not power hungry, so race wasn’t on HIS mind either.
At some point we will hear everything about this arrest because the stupid officer's microphone was on the whole time. Snicker. THEN we can make a definitive judgment about this situation. Until that time, we can only go on what has been reported and it doesn't look good for our Harvard professor. For a well-educated, intelligent guy, he sure flew off the handle quickly. HE was the one who brought up race instead of trying to find out what legitimate reason the police had for being in his home.
We suppose if you are black and it looks like you are trying to break into someone’s house you shouldn’t be arrested. You know - cuz you’re black - and that might be considered racial profiling. Are you flipping kidding me???????? WHO’S racist? We’re all confused here; and, getting more and more confused as the months drag and drag on…to the next election.
So how do we handle these situations, which seemingly are started by the very people who feel discriminated against and looked down on? I've got to say that us white folks are between a Barack and a hard place. It seems nothing we do is good enough and when we do the right thing we MUST be doing it for the wrong reasons. My best friend, Jasmine, works for a company where the racial makeup goes like this - 45% black, 25% Hispanic, 20% white and the rest divided among people from the Far-East.
Jasmine doesn't hear much from most of the groups regarding racism but, the most vocal about racism is the black group. They complain about other blacks who make friends with the whites. "Oh, she's just tryin' to be white!" What???!! This is something which mystifies Jasmine, who is white and could care less about someone's skin color. Aren't people just people? Don't we all love our kids, work hard at our jobs, worry about our old age, like to have fun? She always thought so, but apparently there's some fundamental difference between the races.
At the same time Gates’ story was being sprayed on HD televisions across the nation another one was also being covered; three young boys arrested for stealing items from a neighbor’s yard. The boys were black and white. And the nation, black and white alike, seemed to be on the side of the children. Yes, even though there was a black child among them, Mr. President.
Like so many people out there I am sick of our so-called leaders playing the “race card”. Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton and now it seems our President talk more about racism than I have ever heard any of my friends talk about it. Furthermore, I’ve never heard SO MUCH about racism since WE ALL elected a BLACK president. Does nothing work?
It doesn’t matter if you are left or right of the issue; right is right and wrong is wrong; be you black, white, brown, purple or fuchsia. No one sector of society should be given special or preferential or less than legal treatment, not even the New Haven firefighters. Remember when they were not given promotions b/c they were white? If it’s not right to discriminate against the color black or brown then it certainly isn’t right to discriminate against the color white. Period. Where the hell IS that “Easy” button?
Spewing on and on about racism will only cause it to be a sore spot among the people. It will only serve to perpetuate the great divide; not close the gap, Mr. President. What in the world is the motivation behind such speeches? Why the antics? Do they (the far-left, black leaders among us) want racism to continue to exist? Why would they? So they can keep getting votes from a particular sector of society? You tell me.
I always say “follow the money”. Many of my colleagues and friends (black and white and brown-let’s be clear-I’m not a racist and don’t care what color your skin is) believe some far-left, black leaders need racism like MJ needed Propofol. Without it they have no demonstrations or rallies to organize. And they are SUCH good organizers! Have you ever heard the term “poverty pimps”? Well, now you have.
Wasn’t Barack Hussein Obama supposed to be talking about his health care plan? Talk about “stupid”. So he insinuated a police officer was racist during his “Health Care” speech. What did racism have to do with health care (I shouldn’t have asked right? Is that next? You’re not getting treated b/c you’re black? Maybe that is his tie-in…). Where was I? Oh yeah, Nothing. Racism and health care have nothing to do with each other. It was obvious to any half-wit the question was staged so he could make a point. Why? Because clearly, he wants to continue the class struggle. He’s an instigator! Otherwise; he would have surely said I don’t know enough to comment. Surely.
What is the motivation of our President and other leaders to drum up hatred and impune reputations? Why does this man seem to hate our country so much? Barack Hussein Obama (BHO) has become the “bus chaser” of issues that Jackson and Sharpton are – never hesitating to glom onto an otherwise run of the mill occurrence if he sees an opportunity to tie it to race, thinking he’s making himself look the hero to “his people”! And we whiteys just don’t understand the plight of the black man!!
HELLO – I would be thanking the police and my neighbors for ensuring my property was safe. Why would Mr. Gates not do the same? Why would he make a stand refusing to show ID? BECAUSE, like BHO, Jackson, Sharpton and others – their FIRST thought goes to their own racism – against whites. And, as BHO’s bud, Rahm Emanuel, says - never waste a good crisis!! The bigger problem we see is that BHO saw this incident as something befitting a presidential response but the stealing of Iran ’s election by a thug who wants to destroy us and Israel from the face of the earth was not?? REALLY???!!!!
Racism will never go away as long as each group sees the other as a threat for whatever reason. Blacks will never feel safe and whites will never be able to do enough. And back to the original subject - our president is going straight back to his community organizer roots by agitating the situation. If he said in one breath that "he didn't have all the facts" then he should have STOPPED THERE. End of comments. But he didn't. So you tell me what his motivation was?
Tea anyone?
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Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Tea Party Speech
by Crystal Laramore
Good evening! If I had known I was going to be speaking tonight I’d have worn lipstick. My favorite color is Sarah Palin Red!
Let me apologize in advance if I jump around a bit. My staff forgot the teleprompter. I’ll be forced to speak from experience, knowledge and from the heart.
Before I came to the podium I noticed my future step-daughter, LaRen (aged 6), playing in the dirt and my first instinct was to tell her to ‘stop it. My second, more rational, thought was ‘Dig deep. Spread some to the other children here. It is after all your dirt. You’re the one that is going to be paying for it; again’.
When people ask me to speak at events I always want to talk about commitment; the attention to it and the lack of it. Maybe you’ve noticed that the line between conservative politics and liberal politics has a deep divide these days. The divide didn’t just happen all of a sudden folks; it’s been progressing for decades. We, the conservative minded have just not been very committed to stopping it. We keep ‘hoping for the best’. Well, these tea parties that are springing up all over our great nation are a sign that we have realized that hoping and doing are two different things.
Liberals, far to the left liberals, have however been doing and working and talking and stealing and lying and cheating us with a fervor deep in their bellies while we have been ‘hoping for the best’. Why? Because THEY are, and have been for a long time, committed. They are committed to their cause. They are organized in the name of their cause. And their cause is for us to provide for them. And they start with YOUR children. Get the book “The Death of Right and Wrong” by Tammy Bruce.
Do you want to know why so many children are liberals today? And by children I mean anyone under 35. Because the left is committed. And organized. And they have functions and rallies and it’s FUN to be a liberal. And everything is about acceptance. And they spin it until the collective, rational little minds you sent off to school become fuzzy and tainted and liberal. Then they grow up and don’t have any money and need to come back home. Or, by the grace of God they grow up, get fed up, and build their own home!
The middle class in America is rapidly shrinking. And how can it not with one class providing for two others. Yes, we are not only providing for the entitled poor, we are also providing for the entitled wealthy.
Being from a small community there isn’t a lot of money to go around to support sports leagues, cheerleaders, the library, Lions Club, Women’s League, Prom, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Little League, FFA, Basketball Organizations, Senior Citizens, Toys for Tots, Senior Trips, miscellaneous fundraisers like the yearbook, band, etc.
Now, almost every single month at least 6 organizations show up on my front door asking for donations. Since the bailout by GW and the expansion and movement toward socialism by Obama I’ve posted a letter outside my restaurant:
Our donation quota for the month has been reached. For a list of recipients see list below:
AIG
GM
Welfare
Social Security
FICA
FUTA
Frisbee Park in Austin, TX
Date night with Michelle & Obama in New York
The White House
Nancy Pelosi’s House
Retirement plans for Congress
Health Care better than I’ve ever had for Congress
Fuel for Air Force One in order to brainwash Americans into buying into Socialism
Pepsid AC for the heartburn I get every single day I hear the President of the United States of America trashing my great country and doing everything in his power and then some to shove something down my throat that I DO NOT WANT! i.e.; a bailout, socialized medicine, electricity monitoring, and well, you get the picture. Oh yeah, and the picture of Air Force One buzzing the Statue of Liberty in New York.
I’m sorry, but don’t these people work for me? Don’t they work for you? Did you approve any of this? I didn’t. We really need to understand that the entitlement mentality is having a trickle-down effect. It’s not money trickling down any longer or the pride to achieve great things, its entitlement. If I achieve great things they are entitled to take it away. It is illegal what they are doing yet here we are.
As a small business owner I see a lot of entitlement mentality on both sides of the fence. Everyone always talks about benefits when they apply to work here. Like they’re entitled…My response is ‘It benefits you to show up to work and do as I tell you to do’.
Fighting the establishment is tough. Oh and speaking of tough fighters; I served in Baghdad, Iraq for almost two years with men and women who fought, and some even lost their lives fighting, for a country that believes in what our fore fathers believed in. Those men and women who have died protecting our freedoms will have died in vain if we lose our country to a man, a government and a sector who would rather see it fall than rise!
And we, the foot soldiers of this great nation are also going to have fight; tea parties are just one way of accomplishing the goal of getting our country back. And believe me, we’ve lost our county. And I want it back! Don’t you want to live by our code; a code of honor and pride. Don’t you want to live in the country that is proud of capitalizing on one’s ideas and hard work; we’ve lost the county that believes in the constitution; and we’ve certainly lost the America that believes in a government that is ’For the people of the people, by the people’.
I want to thank my fellow Bible thumping, flag waving, gun toting, America the Great loving patriots for showing up today. And if that isn’t the America YOU love, don’t Tread On Me-LEAVE!
God bless you all and God bless the United States of America!
Good evening! If I had known I was going to be speaking tonight I’d have worn lipstick. My favorite color is Sarah Palin Red!
Let me apologize in advance if I jump around a bit. My staff forgot the teleprompter. I’ll be forced to speak from experience, knowledge and from the heart.
Before I came to the podium I noticed my future step-daughter, LaRen (aged 6), playing in the dirt and my first instinct was to tell her to ‘stop it. My second, more rational, thought was ‘Dig deep. Spread some to the other children here. It is after all your dirt. You’re the one that is going to be paying for it; again’.
When people ask me to speak at events I always want to talk about commitment; the attention to it and the lack of it. Maybe you’ve noticed that the line between conservative politics and liberal politics has a deep divide these days. The divide didn’t just happen all of a sudden folks; it’s been progressing for decades. We, the conservative minded have just not been very committed to stopping it. We keep ‘hoping for the best’. Well, these tea parties that are springing up all over our great nation are a sign that we have realized that hoping and doing are two different things.
Liberals, far to the left liberals, have however been doing and working and talking and stealing and lying and cheating us with a fervor deep in their bellies while we have been ‘hoping for the best’. Why? Because THEY are, and have been for a long time, committed. They are committed to their cause. They are organized in the name of their cause. And their cause is for us to provide for them. And they start with YOUR children. Get the book “The Death of Right and Wrong” by Tammy Bruce.
Do you want to know why so many children are liberals today? And by children I mean anyone under 35. Because the left is committed. And organized. And they have functions and rallies and it’s FUN to be a liberal. And everything is about acceptance. And they spin it until the collective, rational little minds you sent off to school become fuzzy and tainted and liberal. Then they grow up and don’t have any money and need to come back home. Or, by the grace of God they grow up, get fed up, and build their own home!
The middle class in America is rapidly shrinking. And how can it not with one class providing for two others. Yes, we are not only providing for the entitled poor, we are also providing for the entitled wealthy.
Being from a small community there isn’t a lot of money to go around to support sports leagues, cheerleaders, the library, Lions Club, Women’s League, Prom, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Little League, FFA, Basketball Organizations, Senior Citizens, Toys for Tots, Senior Trips, miscellaneous fundraisers like the yearbook, band, etc.
Now, almost every single month at least 6 organizations show up on my front door asking for donations. Since the bailout by GW and the expansion and movement toward socialism by Obama I’ve posted a letter outside my restaurant:
Our donation quota for the month has been reached. For a list of recipients see list below:
AIG
GM
Welfare
Social Security
FICA
FUTA
Frisbee Park in Austin, TX
Date night with Michelle & Obama in New York
The White House
Nancy Pelosi’s House
Retirement plans for Congress
Health Care better than I’ve ever had for Congress
Fuel for Air Force One in order to brainwash Americans into buying into Socialism
Pepsid AC for the heartburn I get every single day I hear the President of the United States of America trashing my great country and doing everything in his power and then some to shove something down my throat that I DO NOT WANT! i.e.; a bailout, socialized medicine, electricity monitoring, and well, you get the picture. Oh yeah, and the picture of Air Force One buzzing the Statue of Liberty in New York.
I’m sorry, but don’t these people work for me? Don’t they work for you? Did you approve any of this? I didn’t. We really need to understand that the entitlement mentality is having a trickle-down effect. It’s not money trickling down any longer or the pride to achieve great things, its entitlement. If I achieve great things they are entitled to take it away. It is illegal what they are doing yet here we are.
As a small business owner I see a lot of entitlement mentality on both sides of the fence. Everyone always talks about benefits when they apply to work here. Like they’re entitled…My response is ‘It benefits you to show up to work and do as I tell you to do’.
Fighting the establishment is tough. Oh and speaking of tough fighters; I served in Baghdad, Iraq for almost two years with men and women who fought, and some even lost their lives fighting, for a country that believes in what our fore fathers believed in. Those men and women who have died protecting our freedoms will have died in vain if we lose our country to a man, a government and a sector who would rather see it fall than rise!
And we, the foot soldiers of this great nation are also going to have fight; tea parties are just one way of accomplishing the goal of getting our country back. And believe me, we’ve lost our county. And I want it back! Don’t you want to live by our code; a code of honor and pride. Don’t you want to live in the country that is proud of capitalizing on one’s ideas and hard work; we’ve lost the county that believes in the constitution; and we’ve certainly lost the America that believes in a government that is ’For the people of the people, by the people’.
I want to thank my fellow Bible thumping, flag waving, gun toting, America the Great loving patriots for showing up today. And if that isn’t the America YOU love, don’t Tread On Me-LEAVE!
God bless you all and God bless the United States of America!
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