537- A THINKING PONDERABLE!.....

A) I know that we have often heard that totally original expression, "Have a good day...." many times a day when you're out and about. BUT, when was the last, or even the first time, that you heard or used the following expressions:
"Have a good FALL?" or "Have a good Winter?"
B) If you look at a much earlier blog, you'll discover a more assertive expression, putting the phrase back into your own life to...."MAKE a good day...MAKE a good fall...MAKE a good winter!" Why? You're in control of YOUR life. If not, TAKE CONTROL of your life with this one little phrase...only if YOU want and decide to do so!

536- S-O-C-I-A-L......S-E-C-U-R-I-T-Y????????

A) Wait until you hear about, know about and understand the following HUGE secret about our Social Security and what has been done to your, our monies that we HAD to pay into OUR system all of these years!!!! Remember, too, that our employer/s had to pay an equal amount to match your funds taken out every payday.
B) Are YOU ready?........those "sacred" monies taken out of OUR paychecks, for decades, have been-----pilferred, stolen! That means that OUR Feds slipped into those Social Security funds, taking millions of $$$ out from our S.S. to pay for "general funds'" other expenses.
Now, do YOU understand why "they" keep telling US, in recent years, that there will NOT be enough for us and YOU? All of those monies, for decades, taken out for Social Security by you and your employer has been STOLEN
Do you understand, now, how and why? The "federal government" freaking STOLE millions upon millions of $$$ from OUR Social Security payment funds over the years....to pay "other bills" and calling the OUR funds taken as "general funds."
C) WHO CARES ANYMORE about such chicanery, deception and pure LIES from our "government?"
D) Just look at the U.S. Representrative from New York....? His fellow congresspersons have been trying to figure out a way for him to take a "plea." That means he may get away with his crimes! Oh, it's predicted that he will be re-elected again in November by his constituents in New York City....go figure.
E)

535- THE POWER OF...C-E-L-E-B-R-I-T-Y!......

A) As a sociology teach, the term is relatively new and refers to any person or group who either seek/s out "fame in any way" or stumble upon it...AND..."savor" it as far as they possibly can, using that old "the end justifies the means" to their fullest advantage! "Go for it as long as you can in our society!" Take advantage....even with $$$$.
B) "FAD...or FASHION"...a hula-hoop or Pet Rocks were a FAD, coming up in full force and then subsiding. A FASHION comes up with full force and sticks around as another segment of our society. Blue jeans...min-skirts..."like"..."you know"....
C) Therefore, persons or groups do the same. Lady GaGa (GagGag) is milking her "power of celebrity" to its fullest extent, but look at her personal exhibitions of public polution and action. Gosh, what happened to the "balloon boy"? The U.S. Senate candidate from Georgia?

D) November of 2010..."Rent's Too Dam High! Party" in New York.  Anyone remember this political party  in November?  And, especially, it's originator, leader and his unique facial hair?  "Celebrityhood" became an instant recognizer for him!  A dool was, overnight, brought out for sale.  His expression, "Rent's too damn high!" became the celebrity expressionf for weeks!!  Now the middle of December...what happened to his instant celebrityhood?  Disappeared.....
E)

534- ANOTHER EXCELLENT PERSONAL THOUGHT.....

Borrowed...."No one can make you feel inferior without your consent!!"
Ponder this one for a bit.

533- A QUIET, UNDERRATED CLASSIC FILM......?

"The Princess Diaries".......
The same lead actress grows up to be a lead in "The Devil Wears Prada."

532- Two SOCIAL COMMENTARIES: "Suicide Bombers and Veils"....

A) A ponderable for you: What if every suicide bomber planner, who trained and persuaded anyone else to strap bombs around their bods...called a "mule", (in their underwear), volunteered the next time to, instead, strap a bomb on their own body and slip out to a desert? Yes, why doesn't that planner, safe back "home", go on their own suicide mission? In college, we called that kind of person a chicken!
B) Another ponderable for you: What if every woman who was told to wear a veil, cover all parts of their body except for the eyes in public, also told their husband that they, the male, had to cover all parts of their male body, except for their eyes?....that the male could not speak with a female in public?...or drive an auto?
Can you imagine all of those males being expected to do that, in public?
I recently, more than once, saw males with shorts on, casual clothes, with their wives covered up!
C) Now...can you imagine the uproar by males having to go through all of that?
By the way, my indepth collegiate studies have included Religions of the World and actually reading and studying the original sources of those religions' basic' books, like The Torah...the Koran...Hinduism...the Holy Bible...Buddhism....
D) And, yes, another factor is involved if the woman choses, on her own, to wear the veil and cover up?
E)

531- SAKINEH MOHAMMADI ASHTIANA.....iran....STONING?....

a) This iranian woman remains in prison after being told, without evidence, that she was "found" guilty in 2006 of an "illicid relationship." She was in prison awaiting 99 lashes for her punishment AND then to be freaking STONED!!!
b) Her son, in London, spread the word about his mother, using news media and the Internet. THAT grew into a swelling verbal show of support around the world. iran just announced that she would not be stoned....but iran likes to let things like this subside and then kill her!
c) AND WHAT IS STONING? I want you to know, to realize what a horrible punishment this is....only women would be buried up to their chest...then, a "group" would throw stones at her exposed head, until................
d) The last stoning in iran took place in 2007.

Does THIS bother you? If so, will you speak out?

530- The DUMBING DOWN Of Our AMERICAN SOCIETY?...PART 2....

1) Once again, a rivival of the earlier decade of the "ME GENERATION!" "Me, me, me...it's all about ME, first...YOU don't count, BUT I, uh, do!"
2) Driving around your town or area? Have you noticed how more and more IDIOT "me" drivers pay no attention to the actual laws of driving, and civility, on our highways and streets? "Beat 'em thru the red lights!" "Get outta my way!" "Blow that freaking horn, you're movin' toooo slow!"
3) "The fickle, dickle finger!"
4) When a new check-out line opens in a grocery store or just store, who, standing behind you, RUNS ahead of others to get there quicker?
5) "Like, know what I mean?...like, uh, last night I like went out to eat, and it was like sooo good...."
6) Piles of grocery items in a basket, going through a "10 items or less" lane...holding up for some time those who had only a few items, then running back to get something forgotten, while the entire line waits, and waits and waits!
7) Parking in a store lot, after you've parked, and pulling in so close to make it nearly impossible for you to get into your car....all the time knowing that when they did pull in to park, they had to have HIT your car with their door!
8) What about a "regular" driver who blatantly parks in a "handicap" space?????
9)

529- BELLEVUE, IOWA...4th OF JULY CELEBREATION Along The MISSISSIPPI RIVER!....

A) Once again, I know that many of you will join with me in your own special, individual ways to remember the person killed and those injured when two horses in the parade were spooked and bolted down through the happy crowd of 4th of July celerbrators....
B) Beautiful children, at least 24 of them, were sitting or standing along the edge of the parade's route when the horse went right into them along the way.
The woman who was killed was the wife of the guy who was handling the parade wagon....
C) Bellevue, Iowa is along the Mississippi River...I've seen pics of the old-fashioned small town, and it reminds of so many other American small towns visited! It will be many years, no matter what, for this Iowa town to forget....but they try!

528- "WHALE WARS!"....

1) There is an international "STOP" law on SLAUGHTERING whales throughout the world's oceans and seas! Did you realize that? And also for the SLAUGHTER of DOLPHINS? Did you know that, too?
2) I viewed some of the Animal Planet's "Whale Wars" during the past months. I SAW videos of a Japanese "company", with a "mother ship" sneaking round the fringes of the southern oceans, sending out smaller, fast Japanese ships to HARPOON, that means SLAUGHTER, whales of all kinds, and drag them up, BLEEDING, on a pulley so their crew could quickly strip them down to the bone before caught! The pieces were then transferred to the "mother ship" to be taken back to Japan for mega-$$$ for the diners to devour!
3) Please, like when I asked you earlier this spring to watch the secret SLAUGHTER of dolphins video recorded at great risk by brave HEROES around the Japanese islands, go to Animal Planet and check for the times for their "Whale Wars" programs.
4) And take care in seeing how a small group of HEROES try to STOP those Japanese ships in their SLAUGHTER of WHALES....please!!!
5) ....

527- LADY GagGag!....BETTER YET, I'LL VOTE TAYLOR ALISON SWIFT For Our MUSIC'S TRUE AMERICAN HERO.....

A) Social commentary: I refer to "her" as Lady GagGag! Only in our America can a dodo rise up to take the $$$ from some fellow Americans. Yes, your choice. And my choice is to not listen and not buy anything associated with GagGag. One more question...at the recent new Yankee Stadium, who was she really representing, emulating? I see "SELFISH, SPOILED" written all across her GagGag bod!
B) TAYLOR SWIFT....she writes her own songs...she's a decent, great role model...she gives 150% in her songs and on the concert stage...she is kind and considerate to fans along the way and time...and she HAS NOT succumbed to thinking she was better than her fans!!
WOW!!!! TAYLOR SWIFT is THE one who deserves to be THE American success story, period....
Oh, we've NEVER seen Taylor Swift drunk and taking off her clothes in public at a Yankee's baseball game, in front of the crowd! You go, Taylor!!
C) An excellent example of the "power of celebrity"....more dumbing down of American society. I just cannot believe that Americans in our American society could be so dumb as to appreciate mindless persons in the spotlight??????

526- WHO CARES?....REALLY, WHO CARES ANYMORE?????

A) Our three American youth who, after a solid year, are still being held HOSTAGE in iran? I don't hear ANY outcry from my fellow Americans, especially the youth, for getting them freed? And I especially don't see and hear one single word from our White House demanding that our fellow Americans be freed! Do you? We have forgotten them! Remember the 444 days that a group of Americans were held captive in iran back in the late '70s???? Something is terribly wrong here, America! But the White House does have time to play golf...entertain rockers....
B) And those many Iranian youth and others who have been slaughtered during the past year? Did our White House step up and speak out, DO SOMETHING, anything, to help those Iranian youth in their struggle to become FREE? CAn YOU remember the 26-yr.-old who was shot last year and died, bled to death, in an Iranian street before our very eyes? Well, can you?
C) Again...WHO CARES?---------------------------

525- FREAKIN' vuvuzlas AT THE WORLD CUP COMPETITIONS???.....

A) OK, what is that sickening NOISE in the background at the World Cup competitions this month?
B) The vuvuzlas horns played by the 'cretins'...this group of disrespectful idiots in the stands have come up with a NOISE that iritates the heck out of just about everybody, especially the players. And have slid under the rules of the World Cup federation that allows the "support" of a team.
C) Social custom? Bull hockey! It's an utter lack of respect for millions of honored soccer!!!!! And, now, guess what the world will probably have to put up for years at any soccer match anywhere in our world? Idiots imitating idiots! It will become a social freakin' fad. Betcha....
D) CREATE A NEW RULE AND SEND THE cretins packing, NOW!!!!!!!

524- ARKANSAS...CAMPERS In The OUACHITA NATIONAL FOREST AWAKE To A FLASH FLOOD.....

A) Vacationing families camped in a remote Arkansas valley southwest of Little Rock...a flash flood.
B) When a child, a similar flash flood roared down from the mountains during the middle of the night in the North River Gorge of Augusta County, Virginia, a Girls Scout camp was quickly evacuated, girls and leadersgoing up the steep mountainside to escape, in the middle of the summer night. My parents drove, later, through the forest area that we had visited often over the years. This little boy, me, was deeply affected by the stories the adults related around me of a flood during the night. I remember seeing only one building left standing in the flat area below the Gorge---a white country church.
C) This week, in Arkansas, 6 children were...swept away. This story is very difficult for me.... Their souls are blessed..........

523- COOKING SKILLS...INTO "EYE-BALLING" MEASUREMENTS?.....

A) If you like to watch some of the "Food Channel" progams, and I do at times, some of the on-camera cooks who earn mega-$$$, take liberties by "eye-balling" all of their measurements. Do you?
B) Unless you have years of experience, suggest that you use the old-fashioned and tried cookbook methods and measurements for better results...works!

522- ABBY SUNDERLAND...FOUND...FOUND!!!!!

A) KEEP THE FAITH, ABBY, and everyone around the world who cares about this brave and adventurous teen!!!! She was on another adventure, alone, to sail around-the-world and didn't check in.....yet.

B) FOUND!!!...she was tracked and found overnight. There was a storm, with 40' waves, 2,000 miles east of Australia and Africa in the Indian Ocean. The sailboat's mast and rigging were snapped off, and she had no way to navigate, but they FOUND her withtwo tracking devices on board...a plane flew out, with little fluel to spare, and spotted her before the crew had to return back to the base!
C) Today, in this year of 2010, America and the world has a 16-year-old teen, girl, who is the essence of bravery and ADVENTURE! This guy loves ADVENTURE and taking changes on ADVENTURES, but never even close to the character of OUR ABBY SUNDERLAND!!
D) Abby's parents have six (6) other siblings in their family in thousand Oaks, California. You go, Abby!! What a person and what a teen, know what I mean?
E) Aussie, French and the USA are cooperating in getting to her, drifting in the ocean...those fierce waves have abated! may take another 20 to 30 hours to actually reach her in the ocean.
F) And, after she is hugged and greeted by her family and neighbors, I'll be that someone who will ask her if she will try the goal again, to complete the sailing mission all the way around....and, I'll wager that she says------YES!!
G) .......................Now some "nice" reporter is pushing that Abby was not prepared for the solo trip around the world, that her sailboat was not up to par for the journey. I need to ponder that for a 'spell.'

H) Check out Abby's sites:
1- type in google----Abby Sunderland's blog---
2- or----www.abbysunderland.com---

521- FATHER'S DAY 2010!...MY ALL-TIME FAVE FATHER...TWO OF THEM!......

1) My all-time fave Father's Day dad is---my late father, Melvin ('Bus'). He didn't complete his high school studies but was wiser than anyone you, or me, will EVER know.
2) And my paternal grandfather, Carl!! As a youth, when he went looking for a job, a craftsman, tailor, gave him the opportunity to learn the skill...and he did! For decades, my grandfather was an honored and respected person in his town, on a hill along Buttermilk Spring Road.
3) My grandfather, Carl, and grandmother, Willie. I honored them this month (May/'19) with a special written tribute, article, in "COUNTRY" magazine. It's a national magazine, based in Wisconsin, and has a subscription run of over 1 million copies each mailing. An average of four million (4 persons to a family) read the excellent 'rural' mag four times a year, with many all COLOR pics and real persons. You'll see it on many newsstands.
4) My father's duty to the family always came first! An early memory bank included hearing him, when it snowed, putting chains on the family car to make sure that WE would be safe going to school....waking up to the whiffs of his homemade biscuits baking away. We usually had a choice of "orange" or "red" biscuits. He had added orange juice or tomato juice to the batter to make them "healthy!"
5) My grandfather, Carleton, was a gentle, quietly intelligent and inventive. When he needed a part or better way of doing something, as he "tinkered" about in his shop, he invented it, created it from scratch!
6) Both had a special love of the CIRCUS, too. My father designed and built miniature circus wagons in his shop!
7) ...more.....

520- Did YOU HAVE A "GOOGI"?.....

A) Please ponder that for a spell...and you did!
B) This American social commentary thinker says YES! And parents, or parent, are the reason, handing the old custom down through the many generations of our American past. AND, by the way, that is, uh, neat!
C) After asking scores of parents, or a parent, over the years, my conclusion is that this custom has long been a private affair. AND THAT, in itself, is a terriffic social tradition to hand down.
D) It appears that no one uses the term of "pacifier", opting instead for a unique designation specially created for THEIR child or children.
E)

519- THE OIL SPILL and the WILDLIFE ALONG OUR GULF OF MEXICO COAST.......

A) Since munchkinhood, this guy has valued the out-of-doors and wildlife and how the entire plan of NATURE fits together....
B) When I pause a moment, during the past week and see the scenes that are now slipping through the contrived seive by BP, of brown pelicans, dolphins and hundreds of turtles and birds saturated with freaking OIL, tears begin to develop. Remember the unique and neat TV commerical about the land, once upon a time, with the Native American chief turning to face us, and a tear or three began to run down his weathered face?
C) It's 2010 for gosh sakes! Where are the leaders who are responsible for, federally, protecting us and our American shores? And what will happen if another one or group of fantically Islamists, vowing to kill us, succeed?....it's 2010 for gosh sakes!

518- OUT OF NECESSITY....MY FIVE (5) BLOG CONTENTS Are NOW UNDER MY COPYRIGHT PROTECTION!.......

A) Why? So much of my original style of writing and research presentation sets it apart...thanks for understanding.
This simply means that you'll need, please, to give credits to moi!...thanks.
B) I DO try to give credits to others, too!!!
C) July blogs for 2009!...you are welcome to check back to last year's July BLOGS on personal adventures, people met or in audicence and experiences during the years----every single one, that means every single experience and adventure IS T-R-U-E! If you see me in person, out and about, ask me to describe any of them...thanks. That 'squires view" blog is #342!!!!!