Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson, the icon of generations of people around the world has died. He was the true "King of Pop" and the biggest celebrity music has known. He was only 50. Jackson died at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. The circumstances surrounding Jackson's death were not immediately clear. He was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m. Paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 2:26pm PST.

Jackson's death brings a sad and tragic end to a long, bizarre decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer. He united black and white music and he shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled millions more on stage.

I remember when Thriller came out. Thriller made music videos popular. With out it, the music industry would not be where it is today. The red jacket he originally wore was a fashion icon and many people around the world had to have one. He created the moonwalk and showed the world what music and dance could do together. Here was a man/child. A boy never given the opportunity to be a child, who became a child in adulthood. Dispite all the scandals, he was still immensley popular as seen by the minutes it took to sell out 50 shows in London. It would have been music's biggest comeback. So today is the day the music died. The child of music is now able to rest and be the child he never could be in life.

I offer my sincere condolences to his children, parents, siblings, all of his family and friends. Michael you will be missed.

Iranian Protest

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told President Barack Obama on Thursday to stop meddling in Iran’s affairs. He has also blasted Britain and some other European nations, saying they were run by “politically retarded people.” Is this really a person who ever even considered wanting a real relationship with the outside world. He insults most of Europe calling their leaders retarded.

After all President Obama was actually lenient in his words to them. All he said was that there were significant questions about the election results and that he was “appalled and outraged” by the violent suppression of the protests. The Iranian government's threats and the violence against their own people. Harming and killing people of their own nation who just ask for truth and justice? The awful images and video of the young woman Neda Soltani during her last breaths who was so brutally murdered by the Basij. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocRYSkgESCc and –warning this one is gruesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nydailynews.com%2Fnews%2Fus_world%2F2009%2F06%2F21%2F2009-06-21_neda_young_girl_killed_in_iran.html&feature=player_embedded&v=OjQxq5N--Kc )Appalled and outraged are somewhat weak.

If you ask me, Obama did not speak loud enough. He did not significantly show enough of his outrage and anger in his speech. He needs to puff up his chest, show more emotion in his voice, slam his fist on the podium. Ahmadinejad warned that Obama’s comments were similar to those of his predecessor George W. Bush—who took a hard line against the Islamic republic—and could ruin any possible dialogue between the two countries. Lie he ever gave a thought to this in the first place.

Ahmadinejad asked: “Do you think this behavior will solve the problem for you? This will not have any result except that the people will consider you somebody similar to Bush.” Does this man not look at the behavior of his own government? Obama only used words, look at what his government has done and continues to do to their own people. What amazes me more is the brainwashing they have done within their own government that they can actually go out and kill their own people. Put this government and the North Korean government together and you have two of the most retarded governments in the world. Both fanatical, both psycho.

Obama has made diplomatic overtures toward Iran, after three decades of severed ties since the Islamic revolution. I believe in the back of his mind he knew this would never work. The same with North Korea. Obama tried his way and he failed. A more hard line stance is all the Irianian Government seems to understand. The soft approach only caused them to look at this country as weak.

Iran has also expelled a correspondent for the BBC in Tehran. They have accused him of “supporting the rioters”. They arrested a British-Greek and an Iranian-Canadian journalist working for US publications. This country is ruled by a fanatical religious sect and they put the puppets in office that they know they can control. The presidency of Iran is just a figure head, a puppet to be dangled and made to do what they are commanded. There is no room in their government for those who do not believe as the Supreme Ayatollah commands.

Obama will now see why the conservatives in Congress have responded over the years they way they have. He will learn from them the way he needs to proceed. He should take their knowledge and use it. He is a smart man, he will take the right stance. So to Iran – I speak this for the rest of the civilized world – please stop being so “retarded” and do the right thing. Investigate your sham election and get this right. I know my words may be useless, but as I always say – this is my opinion – my explosion of thought!

Metro Subway Crash in Washington DC

My thoughts, prayers and condolences goes out to the families of the 9 people who lost their lives and the many injured in yesterdays crash on the subway in Washington DC. This was such a tragic event on one of the most busiest transportation systems in our country.

It is my hope that they discover the cause of this incident quickly and take the necessary steps to fix what ever caused this tragic event so it never happens again. I have traveled on the subway many times putting the safty of my family and myself into the hands of the operators of this system as have many millions of others and thank God we always traveled the system safely. A big thanks and appreciation goes out to all those involved in the crash that stayed to help and to console the injured. It shows that there are still caring people in this world. They should be commended!

To those who had family members injured and killed yesterday in this tragic accident, my prayers are with you. May God bless you!

McDonalds 2

Well I received an e-mail back from the corporate office. They said they passed it on to the owner and the district manager and someone would be in touch. Never heard from anyone, so I guess they really don't care about my service. So I have effectively ended my relationship with McDonald's. I have told several others about my experience and quite a few of them are not going back either.

Last night I went to Popeye's, I spent a little more due to the higher cost there, but I had a wonderful experience. The employees were very friendly, the store was much cleaner, they were running a little behind, but all the employees came up to me and appoligized including the manager who came up twice. They got my order right and they even gave me all the sauces I wanted. For there short delay (only about 5 minutes) they gave me an extra chicken breast and an extra order of nuggets and appoligized again.

In a down economy, there are many capable workers looking for any type of work. Many of them have customer service backgrounds. I would suggest to McDonald's that they seek out these people, pay them just a little more and hire them. The worst that can happen is the economy gets better and these people leave - or - now they have qualified people and they can use them elsewhere as supervisors and managers. They should remeber that employees are one of their greatest assets but some can becoe liabilities also. The stores would all get a boost from more qualified people's experience. It appears that Popeye's seems to attract better qualified people. The staff at this McDonald's just does not seem to care. Now this is not all McDonald's locations, in fact the one by my office runs extremely efficient and the store is always clean and the employees friendly. Stores like the one down where I live give the other bad reputations. They should remember give one person good service and they tell 10 people about it, give one person bad service and they tell hundreds. Again - my opinion - my explosion of thought!

McDonald's Experiences

I am usually not a big complainer, but the McDonald's Restaurant by my house has to be on the list of one of the worst in the chain. I am a vertern in terms of feasting at McDonald's. I Have been going there since I was just a young child. I had been buying lunch at McDonalds about twice a week and buying dinners there for my family almost twice a week for the past year. It appears my relationship with McDonald's may be now ending due to one restaurant.

A few weeks back I visited this store and bought 6 meals, all with french fries of various sizes. There were only about 4 customers in the store. I waited patiently for my meal. After about 10 minutes one of the others waiting inside commented how slow the service was. All 4 of us had not received our orders. After 20 minutes went by, I asked the cashier where my order was, she commented that they were busy at the Drive Through and the Drive Through was more of a priority. I made a comment to her - Are you saying me, standing here in front of you is not an important customer. She backed away from the counter and went to the back of the store. After about 10 minutes, she finally reappeared at the front, I asked what the hold up was, she said no one was making the french fries. I said can you get the manager - she said " She is busy in the office and won't come out". I was more upset now and said why can't someone make the fricking fries. Just put them in the bin, drop them in the fryer and set the timer. I then asked for my money back ont he Fries - she said we do not give refunds, you need to wait for the fries. Someone finally made the fries and she went to get them. My food in the meantime was sitting on the counter for at least 15 minutes. I said i wanted a new order filled, I did not want cold food. I was told they could not do that. I took my food in disgust after a full 40 minutes of waiting. The next week when I went in I told the manager on duty about it and the response was he could not control what other managers did not manage. I ordered my food, 2 of the orders were wrong - a constant issue with this location.

Now to the other night. I worked late and stopped to pick-up dinner for my family again ( I gues I am a gliutten for punishment). I typically spend $25 or more on dinner here for the family. I waited for my food and then asked if I could have 2 hot mustard sauces and 6 sweet and sour sauces - the kids like to dip fries in the sweet and sour instead of ketchup. I get these sauces everytime I go in to order food, had the same order just 2 nights before. Iw as told I had to pay for the 6 sauces - What! - never paid for them before. I asked for the manager. One of the employees went back to get her, they had to bang on the door and beg her to come out. It sounded like she did not want to in the beginning. She came to the front after about 5 minutes, and said I have to pay for the sauces that they have been doing this for over a month - news to me since this is the first time I was ever charged. I told her I come here on a regular basis and spend $50 a week at minimum. I can go next door to BUrger King and get all the sauces I want, or the other way to Wendy's and get all the sauces I want. Even Popeyes gives sauces out. I asked her - I am not worth 64 cents as a customer. She bluntly responded "No". So for 64 cents she was willing to lose my service, not only mine but my family's and several friends that I mentioned this to. Has McDonald's fallen so low? To top it off they made one of my sanwhiches wrong not once but twice - they trashed both wrong orders -how much did that cost them? I was leaving in disgust and stopped to ask for some ketchup, two of the people rolled thier eyes and look toward the manager - I just left.

Last night I went to Burger King - I asked for six sauces and they actually gave me eight - no charge. I asked if they charged for sauces - they laughed. I told them McDonald's does - they laughed harder. They also got my order right, seems they have things more together. I wrote the McDonalds on their website, I will see if I get a response and report back here to you on what they say.

Supreme Qualification

Is Judge Sotomayor a qualified candidate for the Supreme Court, our highest and most esteemed court in the country? You have arguments on both sides for and against her. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has said, "There is a risk in anybody voting for anybody just because they’re a woman or because they are African-American or anything about that individual, You should vote for people based on their qualifications, and in case of the justice, their attitudes about the law, and their impartiality.” Remember Grassley voted against Sotomayor’s 1998 nomination to a federal appeals court but voted for Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the Supreme Court in 1993. He commented: "She is just going to look at the law, look at the narrow interpretation of the law, and leave personal bias out of it – that’s what I’ll be looking for. If she convinces me that she can't leave personal biases out of it … then I’m more apt to vote no."

Grassley is correct that personal bias has no room on the Supreme Court. We look up to this court to keep the laws of this land in check and to review them impartially. They have a heavy burden bestowed upon them and it is not a job I would care for. How well do these people sleep at night? Former Florida state House Speaker Marco Rubio, a Spanish speaker of Cuban descent, already has raised concerns about Sotomayor, calling some of her past comments “troubling,” and he could emerge as a high-profile Hispanic Republican critic of her nomination. Rubio from Miami, who's running in the Republican primary against Charlie Crist for U.S. Senate, made the following comment Tuesday: "The role of the Supreme Court is to interpret the Constitution, not to make law. Given this, I am deeply concerned about Judge Sotomayor's past comment that the courts are 'where policy is made' and look forward to hearing her explanation and defense of that view." Of course he only quoted part of her speech. She did say she was saying this jokingly.

Sotomayor, although an able lawyer, was “not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench,” as one former Second Circuit clerk for another judge put it. “She has an inflated opinion of herself, and is domineering during oral arguments, but her questions aren’t penetrating and don’t get to the heart of the issue.” Is this just idle talk or can this really be true of her. She is known to run on lengthily in her conversations and sometimes does not have open ears. As far as her political views, the liberals are banking she is far to the left, but she was appointed by a Conservative Republican President (Bush #1) to the Appeals Court.

Do the Democrats believe they have the market cornered on appointing an Hispanic to a high position in a Judicial Court? Do you remember Miguel Estrada? Estrada is a Latino. That the Republicans would raise him to one of the highest courts in the country proves that Latinos are welcome in the Republican Party too. They do not have to be beholden to Democrats. Sonia Sotomayor, used to serve on the board of LatinoJustice PRLDEF, which was one of the racial grievance groups that helped to put a stop to the judicial nomination of Honduran-born Miguel Estrada in 2003. Democrats in the Senate filibustered the nomination and a worn out Estrada withdrew from consideration in 2003.

Now LatinoJustice PRLDEF, hailed the nomination of Sotomayor on the basis of her ethno-cultural heritage. "As the second largest and fastest growing population in America, with a large pool of qualified individuals to choose from, it was wholly appropriate for the President to nominate a Hispanic." How contradictory.

Also, she actually would not be the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court. Portuguese Jew - Benjamin Nathan Cardozo was a very well-known American lawyer and Supreme Court Justice. He is remembered for his significant influence on the development of American common law during the 20th century. Cardozo served on the Supreme Court from 1932 until his death.

Why do we need another Catholic on the court? Sotomayor went to Catholic schools and would be the sixth Catholic justice on the current Supreme Court. That is if she is, in fact, Catholic, which isn't clear from her biography. Why are so many Catholics appointed to the Supreme Court. We need a Baptist or Protestant to really ensure and more partial judgment.

The most controversial case in which Sotomayor participated is Ricci v. DeStefano, which is an important “reverse discrimination” case brought by a group of firefighters in New Haven, CT. This case is now being reviewed by the Supreme Court. Ricci v. DeStefano, presents recurring issues regarding proper application of Title VII and the Equal Protection Clause to the civil service. New Haven firefighters and lieutenants claim that they should have been promoted based on job-related examinations and merit selection rules mandated by local law. The City of New Haven has thus far refused because city officials believed that the examination and rules may have had a disparate impact on minorities, although testimony did not show this. A panel of judges including Sotomayor ruled against the firefighters in a perfunctory unpublished opinion. I don’t understand reverse discrimination. Discrimination is discrimination no matter who the party is that is being discriminated against. Reverse discrimination technically would be the elimination of discrimination. The Reverse of discriminating would be to not discriminate.

So back to the issue, is she a qualified candidate? She will be appointed, there is no question there. Only time will tell on what type of Justice she will become. It is not her voice alone that will make the decisions that confront this court, it is the opinion and interpretation of our constitution by the combined group of these nine esteemed judges that will determine our fate. Her voice will be but one that will be heard. Her opinion is but one explosion of thought!

Conservatism and American Idol

Taking a look at American Idol, you may be able to deduce that young Americans are more conservative then we realized. Kris Allen a conservative young man from the south won American Idol, no doubt made possible by votes from the fans of Danny Gokey also a conservative young man.

Adam Lambert a nice young man from San Diego,CA, but so much more liberal lost even though his talent level was much greater than Kris’s. He was out spoken and not afraid to step out on a limb with his flamboyant style. Not afraid to admit his sexuality preference. Some say the homophobic American population was to blame for him not winning.

Now wait a minute, many experts have been saying America has become more liberal, more Democrat. Most of the liberals and Democrats are pushing for gay rights and same sex marriages. So is this liberal American Public hypocritical? Give the gays rights but don’t let a gay person win American Idol. Is this the case.

Or it may be that young Americans are much more conservative in their beliefs than what was thought. Maybe the Republicans need a way to tap into this youth and bring them to the party. It is only with the youth of America that the Republicans can become strong and regain their ground. They need to get out there and relate with this youth. The conservative youth of America that chose a conservative young man from the south to win American Idol. Again just my opinion – My Explosion of Thought!

Notre Dame Debacle

We can not blame President Obama for accepting the the invitation to give a commencement speech at Notre Dame this week. The people responsible for creating this mess at the institution are the president of Notre Dame, Father John Jenkins, and the university's trustees who went along with it; not President Obama, or the dozens of outraged bishops across the country.

A few years back the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement which states, in part: "The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions." This was a rare mandate but given the score of awards and other honorary certificates bestowed on those with beliefs other than what the church stands for it was rightful.

Many can understand that President Obama's admirers want to try and shield him from the embarrassment of controversy. Then they try to impose politics on the Catholic Church, and demand that reverence to President Obama take precedent over preserving the Catholic identity of Notre Dame, they only succeed in revealing their own biases. There is nothing political about it. It is all about preserving Christianity.

Obama speaks about bringing people together, and the plurality of religious practices that make a great nation, it's some of those who oppose him who use religion to divide. Maybe you need to understand what many people forget – religion is something created by man as an excuse to find a way to heaven – Christianity is what God has given to us in the words of the Bible to guide us to heaven. Christianity is not manmade, it is God given and is offered to each and every one of us. We can be saved if we believe in God and that Jesus Christ was born and died on Calvery’s cross to save us all from eternal damnation. Those who preach religion, using man’s tool do not understand this and I pity them.

Obama said "Is it possible for us to join hands in common effort?" As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate? How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?" Maybe we never do, this has been argued for ages, but it is a fact that only one side can be correct. If we are true Christians we can ourselves read the Bible and see for ourselves what Jesus has offered to us.

Do not condemn President Obama for accepting this opportunity. Scold those who offered it to him. Do not condemn President Obama for his beliefs – for those who have not sinned may throw the first stone. Do not condemn President Obama – do not judge unless ye to be judged. For with Judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged (Matt 7:1).

I express these things here not as a Catholic – for some in the Catholic Church have done me wrong – but as a Christian. My faith in the Catholic Church was destroyed many years ago, but my Christianity has remained. What does this great nation suffer from – it suffers from the lack of Christianity – this nation was founded on Christianity. We try and deny it, but look around, look at the writings of our forefathers at the inscriptions on out government buildings and on our money – It is in God we Trust. Respect we give is for the Presidential position, not the man. We can pray that God does truly guide the person in the position as we all should. Trust in your Christianity, not in Religion, that God will guide us through these turmoils and guide the man in the position. It is our lack of Christianity that has moved this country in the wrong direction. Put your faith where it belongs – not with man – but with Jesus Christ. This is my Explosion of Thought!

Report on Our Economy

So the gloomy report of declining sales seems to stump our nation’s economists. Retail sales fell 0.4 percent in April from the previous month, much worse than economists had predicted, they were hoping for at least flat sales. Then when comparing sales with the previous year, April sales dived 10.1 percent. The Commerce Department also revised its earlier estimate for March sales from a drop of 1.1 percent to 1.3 percent. And it seems the American housing market also continues to struggle as well.

Why are they so befuddled? Gasoline prices have shot up over the past few weeks. In my area they have now gone from $1.85/gal. to $2.23/gal. a 17% increase in a little over 2 weeks. At the current cost, this adds about $400 to my yearly commuting cost. Grocery prices have continued to climb; people are still losing their jobs. They are surprised the tax cut in the stimulus package that was just instituted did not do more to help stimulate people to spend more – a paltry $13 roughly per week just about covers the rising cost of gas and groceries.

As I mentioned before, this is a long range project to set things right. The market is still correcting itself and all the bailout money dished out was not well thought out. Now you have GM ready to file for bankruptcy and part of their exit strategy is to job out more work to China and Mexico, which means that the American Auto workers who lost their jobs and others, who will be losing them, will be permanently out of work. These workers will have to be retrained to be able to do other work, it may take a few years to retrain many of them who have done nothing else but work in the Auto Industry. So GM takes our tax money and now wants to eliminate thousands of US jobs. Of course we are partly to blame, going to these other countries the labor cost are much less at under $10/hour compared to some in the industry at $50/hour. Why can’t they work out a deal with the auto workers in this country and look for more streamline ways to manufacture the cars. They ripped off the American people and our government is letting them get away with it. After all it is you and I that will be repaying their debt.

So when will the economy rebound and start moving in the right direction? I am still monitoring the cost of my razor blades, they have not gone down any and they don’t even put them on sale. So I guess we are still in this for the long haul. I am projecting in the 3rd quarter of next year we will see some noticeable movement, based on the history of recessions and of course my opinion – my explosion of thought!

Happy Mother's Day!

I want to wish all the Mothers in the USA and around the world a Very Happy and Wonderful Mother's Day! Hope all of you can enjoy this day with your lovely children.