Should A Muslim Be President?

The liberal media has become so "politically correct" that speaking obvious truths is becoming an open minefield for those in the political limelight. Dr. Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon turned Republican challenger for President of these United States has said he could not support a Muslim for the president of the United States. He was immediately criticized for being racist which led him to explain that he was referring to one who embraced Sharia law over the Constitution and American values. Under Sharia law women are put down and mistreated, homosexuals are put to death and you could lose a hand if you committed a theft and this is just a few of the despicable things Sharia law embraces.

By the way Dr. Carson did not say he would prohibit a Muslim from running for the office he just said he could not support him. Is it so terrible to voice one's opinion concerning whom he would or would not support? I don't think so especially if the reasons given have some truth behind them and that he isn't just blowing some wind to roil the waters.

Many years ago John F. Kennedy ran into trouble from our citizens because being Catholic gave some pause that he would be under control of the Pope. The Pope is also the head of state as well as being the head of The Roman Catholic Church. Allaying the fears Kennedy made a great speech wherein he made it clear that He was NOT under the political direction of the Pope in any way, shape or form. He made it clear that he would be guided by American law, the US Constitution as well as American morals.

Considering the fact that we have very troubling Muslim groups such as ISIS recruiting some of our citizens and their main objective is to destroy our way of life why is it so terrible to have a Muslim reject that part of Sharia law that is violent and embrace our Constitution, laws and values if that Muslim wants to run for the office of President of these United States? Therefore if a Muslim would get in the running for President a similar speech, like John F. Kennedy made, would have to be made in order for me to support him.

 I think this is called the vetting process, this questioning of one's values, patriotism and policies, raising questions that should, must be asked. A simple way of removing all the fears would be for the modern Muslim community to come together and make it clear that all aspects of Sharia law are not accepted by the Muslim community world wide. You know, like letting people be who they want to be, like Gays, like doing away with the subjugation of women and acknowledging that anyone who disagrees with other religions must not be killed.  Get rid of these despicable laws, and repudiate ISIS and its ilk. Then we wouldn't have this conversation at all.

      

ESP or A Tap Into The Spiritual Life

Extrasensory Perception is just another name for letting your God inspired spirit take advantage of the gifts we have all gotten at birth. Unfortunately some of the wires that are set up within the human body may get in the way for some of us so that brain damage, may hinder this function or ultra sensory wiring, synapses may heighten the usage.

There are things that happen however, that we just accept as ordinary occurrences because we just don't have the time or this world has jaded us into believing all this stuff is just gobble-de-gook.  My experiences have strengthened my belief that we can all sharpen these senses of the Spirit called ESP if only we spent the time practicing methods that allow this to happen.

Prayer is one method that can sharpen the ESP. But there are other methods such as meditation, Yoga and practices of Buddhism that will also sharpen the senses of the spirit. The idea is to reach into oneself so that you can get outside of this shell we call a body and send the brain waves, the spirit, over space and time to communicate and visualize past, future and interplanetary events.

The Psychics that are not charlatans have this ability. They can communicate with those who have past into that other dimension we call heaven, or even Purgatory of some kind. Words once released still are in the atmosphere, so are images all we need are receptors. The proof of this is Radio, TV, Radar and all the things we use so cavalierly every day. As you read this all sorts of pictures and voices are being transmitted that we can see when we turn on our sets.  So why not the same thing regarding ESP, Spiritual senses that reach outside of our bodies into the universe around us?

When I was very young and did not believe in all this "stuff" to test the theory I said a prayer that if I'd ever get married I would see my future wife then and there but would not realize it when we would get married sometime in the future. Some ten years later I married that girl who happened to pass my way right about the time I threw out that challenge. When I first saw her I asked a friend who she was and he steered me away from her saying she didn't speak English because he was pursuing her. I didn't realize the girl I eventually married and that girl that passed in front of me when I uttered that prayer was one and the same girl.

There was a time that I had to make a choice to follow my Company to the West Coast or stay here on the other coast, my beloved New York. I was married, had a large family and took a big risk by staying rather than going. The decision was reached after prayers, meditation and a deep feeling that this would be a wrong move for me and my family. I trusted that feeling. Years passed and it seemed that I made the wrong move.
But the ensuing years proved that I made the correct move. The company on the West Coast was merged and people were out of work. I wasn't. I had a job, not the best but it allowed me to support the family while it payed for my education.  It allowed me to experience things that I could only experience by staying in New York. It allowed me to have the opportunity to take care of my wife as she slipped into Alzheimer's. I met new people and made new friends not all of which stayed with me. I met a very pretty young lady and we met seemingly for a brief moment in our lives and then went our ways. BUT some 25 years later we met again and fell in love. I never would have had that opportunity to experience new beginnings if I didn't listen to my inner voice, ESP, God Talking or whatever you call it because without it I would have transferred to California. As a side bar my children wouldn't have met their lovers and had their children, my grandchildren. I wouldn't change it all for anything.

Co-incidence? I don't believe in co-incidences. There are so many other things I could recount not only my experiences but people I know. We are more than solidified chemicals and electrical impulses. We are Spiritual people and we could be so much more so if we would just take the time to develop these Extrasensory Perceptions!  

        

Yankees Can Break Your Heart

I can't figure it all out. The Yanks just lost their fourth in a row, in the last three games they scored one run. Their pitching has been great but their hitting seems to have taken a vacation. But what does that all mean to me? I keep telling myself the team is comprised of multi millionaires belonging to a multi billion dollar organization. If they win or lose they all get paid. If they win or lose I never get anything from their endeavors. What makes it even worst than that is while I know them, their ins and outs, I am just another unknown poor slob supporting these rich bastards. Yet they are breaking my heart.

Maybe it is the fact that we all wanted to play on the team when we were kids, I mean when we grew up. My first hero should have been my father but it was a Yankee outfielder named Johnny Lindell who wore the number 27 on his uniform. Of course I wore the same number on mine when I played on the sandlot teams.
I seemed to think when he did good it transferred to me and when I did good it transferred to him. And it wasn't just about winning it was about doing the best you could no matter what the outcome but if you won it was so much better. AND the Yankees won seemingly every year sometimes winning over 100 games while losing 54 or less. My sandlot teams won also and their was a certain pride in knowing when you were called on to compete you were better than the competition.

When you went out on the field dressed in your baseball uniform and the crowd of maybe 50 or maybe 10 people watched and they cheered if you made a great catch or got an important hit while the soft summer breeze was blowing through your hair because your hat fell off due to the effort expended to complete the play while running it was as if time stopped and you were transformed into your hero. I was Johnny Lindell and he was me and we were having fun competing and playing the game the way it should be played. Oh yeah, it was good to feel young and invincible swatting the ball, catching the ball after a long run.

Maybe that was it, the reason I felt so bad today watching the Yankees play like they forgot how to hit the ball. Maybe it made me realize they were getting old. I was getting old. I could feel the joy of youth, of the air blowing through my hair even though I was very bald, when they won. Somehow they and I were one. Young and carefree laughing through a hot summer's day as we caught the ball, hit the homers and were free of defeat because we played the game the way it should be played, and that is playing it well. At least for the moment anyway because the reality of life is that defeats are usually there always but lay the foundation for victories. And all the Ballplayers get old and eventually fade away, even the greatest. But for the moment we are all young again and that moment has been taken away from me during this Yankee slump and I fear it won't come back again until they start winning again.

I guess rooting for your team is like rooting for life. To succeed, stay forever young and live till you die. I think that explains why my heart is broken right now but they will rise again just as most of us do after each defeat experienced in living. Reminds me of Frank Sinatra's song "I'm gonna live till I die.... but if nothing comes up next July I'm gonna roll myself up in a big ball and die."

 

Always loved! Never Forgotten!

He woke early this Monday, 7/27/2015. He woke up early 7/27/1957 also, except it was Saturday back then.  He woke early because this day at 11 AM he was going to marry the most beautiful girl he ever saw and that included all those gorgeous movie stars that reigned back then. They had been dating on and off since 1954. He was madly in love with her since he first saw her but she took some pursuing. She had been hurt before and she wasn't going to be hurt again. He kept assuring her he wouldn't hurt her but she just didn't believe him.

He showered, shaved and kept thinking of how much he wanted her to trust him, to love him but even though they were tying the knot today she still had her doubts. He dressed in his day tux and if he had to say it himself he looked pretty good but he knew he couldn't look as good as she looked ever. 

The limo came on time and brought the men's wedding party to the church where they waited for the Bride to arrive. She was fashionably late but when she entered the church the inside lit up with her beauty. The best part about her was the outer beauty was matched by the inner beauty. There wasn't one person who met her who had anything bad to say about her. She truly brightened up anyone's life that she touched. 

The day was perfect. The ceremony was wonderful in the sanctity it brought to their union. The celebration that followed went by too quickly but every time they danced the electricity they shared cruised through their young bodies entering their very souls. They left NYC by plane for a honeymoon in Miami Florida. They then spent about a year in Columbus, Georgia as he was serving out his last year of active duty in the Army.

This morning of 7/27/15 there was no place to go so he let his thoughts go back to that Saturday of 7/27/57.

He thought the number 7 had played a very big role in their life. They lived off post in Georgia and the address was 79 B Victory Drive. When he came home they lived for two years above a Drug Store on Main Street in Port Washington, Nassau County, NY. He had to catch the 7 AM Long Island Railroad to get to work. They had 7 children. Yes the number 7 was always present.

He lay in bed recalling some of the bad times as well as the good times. She always loved the children deeply. He would remind her that eventually they would have to fly the coop and live their own lives and the most important people in our lives would be only us two. She didn't grasp the idea he was putting forth because of her deep love for the children, individually and as a group. Also she didn't exactly believe him when he kept telling her how much he loved her and he would give his life for her if he had to do just that.

 

They were married 50 years and 6 months when she passed away from complications of Alzheimer's. She was diagnosed some 15 years earlier but she started to show signs much earlier. When he wasn't aware of the progressive disease he was staring to feel she wasn't in love with him anymore. The diagnoses explained some of the things that were happening. He never left her side. Finally she was placed in a Nursing Home. He stayed with her every day from 10 AM till 7 PM, there's that number 7 again. Their love grew even when she stopped recognizing who he was. 

He kept his promise made so many years ago and she kept her's as they loved until death, and through eternity. True union is hard to explain, many even children, think they know what goes on between lovers but they don't, only the lovers do. He never regretted any part of their lives, they loved strongly, produced many lives when one included grandchildren and great-grandchildren and they had a chance to be together even when to onlookers thought they were apart. He pulled back the covers and rose from bed. Better to get on with the day he thought and leave the past for another time as there's still plenty of living yet to do.  

       

So Far The Yankees Are Schizophrenic

On the morning of June 16, 2015 the New York Yankees have a record of  34 won and 29 lost but their record doesn't show what an upside down  season it has been. They have won six or seven in a row while losing five or so in a row and at one time were one win and ten losses. They have played very good baseball winning on all cylinders. They have played very bad baseball looking at times more like little league-rs than major league-rs earning millions of dollars. This schizophrenic behavior also is being reflected by management led by their manger Joe Geradi, and General Manager Brian Cashman.

Everybody on that club knows more than me then how is it some things are so obvious I see the reasons for this odd behavior but the resident geniuses do not?  They have a great relief staff but it is being overused. This why their closer is on the DL and some of the long guys like Rogers are no longer with the club because they lost their effectiveness.  The pitching is not their main problem, consistency of their offense is as well as their defense.

Chase Headly is a fine third basement who has committed 14 errors up to this point while last year he committed  only 9 for the whole season. Their shortstop has to be taught how to play the position. He takes too many chances that lead to errors of or misplays. His swing has to be shortened, hitting .230 just isn't going to make him a good Jeter replacement. You get my drift? Drew has to become just a utility player. Hitting way below .200 is terrible even if he hits an occasional home run. Carlos Beltran has to go. Cut him loose and eat the contract. He can't play the outfield, he looks frightened going after a ball near the wall, he's slow and can't hit. He's a drag on the team. When Jacob Ellsbury  returns from the DL know he is extremely fragile and has to be rested and treated frequently hopefully putting off his his stay on the disability list.

I hate to say it but it looks like Geradi and Cashman are managing scared. Afraid to cut loose some very bad contracts and getting some experienced good players in their stead. Stop sending good players back to the minors because they have options, confidence shaken and possibly careers ruined. If the player is helping like Flores (I hope I got the kids's name right) he shouldn't be sent down. He fielded very well, showed a great arm, had speed and hit OK. His reward, optioned out to make room on the roster but then another rookie is brought up and currently playing centerfield. Gerardi's pitching moves lately have cost the Yankees games. The whole club has got to get their confidence back and this is done by getting rid of players who no longer have it despite their contract and getting consistency back on the and off the field.      

 

Take The Moment, Every Moment and LIVE!

When he first moved here the tree was already in the backyard. It was young then, but it stood tall with branches reaching towards the sky while its roots dug deeply into the ground providing an anchor. As the years passed the tree grew stronger and with careful pruning reached upwards toward the heavens surpassing the height of the house.

This day he was in the bedroom upstairs and the window looked out on the backyard, in the middle of the yard the tree fully leafed stood strong and majestic with branches reaching towards the heaven and firmly rooted in its place, giving the impression it was shouting praise to its unknown creator.

He mused how funny life is, this tree growing older became stronger, taller full of life even better than when it was a stripling. Whereas he, instead of growing stronger, taller and more resilient actually lost an inch inn height  while becoming broader around the waist causing him to stoop a bit and becoming much weaker in many ways from the time of his youth.

He wondered what storm would bring winds and rain strong enough to make the roots loose and have the tree become uprooted. Sure as there is a heaven the tree would fall no matter how tall it might become or how embedded the roots anchored in the earth.

But for the moment the tree gave shade on the hottest day, beauty every day and seemed far from the day it would be no more. In a sense he sort of felt the same way about himself. After all the only moment we all have is the present one and no one knows for sure when his or her last moment shall come.

With these thoughts he took the book he was reading, went outside opened a beach chair on the patio, plopped down enjoyed the shade, the birds landing on the branches and started to read. Life ain't half bad he thought. And so the tree and he enjoyed their moment for that was the only moment they both were sure that they would have.

Miracles

The more I live the more I come to understand we accept the miraculous as everyday usual occurrences. I prefer to think miracles are connected with the supernatural but for the unbelievers among us miracles are the happenings which are unusual in the fact that the happenings are what makes living so wonderful. The problem is we just accept everything as the usual natural stuff that life is made up of. We experience it every day and it becomes commonplace. I would suggest that we stop and take this very common place life and appreciate the wonder of it all.

Colors are so beautiful. There are some who never see the beauty but those of us who have eyes that are working correctly do see them. And isn't a wonder that these sockets in our head are the windows to such beauty. Our eyes are a miracle, the colors around us are also. It is peculiar that sometimes we may go to a movie and remark how beautiful the colors are yet we walk in the middle of a blossoming earth and barely recognize the wonder of it all.

Sleep is a wonder. We fall in a semi-comatose position at the end of our day and the body regenerates itself and magically we wake the next morning refreshed and ready for the days wonders and works. We may dream, we may not. But if we miss our sleep our bodies let us know we need to fall into that semi-comatose state or we will be destroyed. Isn't that a wonder? Our bodies actually talk to us letting us know when we need something. Our brain controlling our movements, our feelings our inner most thoughts and needs. Our very being is somehow electo-chemical and even more spiritual.  Perhaps we do have a soul.  At least we seem to have something like a soul which can actually send thoughts outside of our bodies over thousands of miles to another person. It happens. It is miraculous. Google it, it happens.

Creation itself is such a wonder yet we seem to accept it as common place because it happens so often and we think we know all there is to know about the process. Yet, isn't it a wonder that an ejaculation of thousands of sperm looks for an egg and together once it penetrates it a new person begins to be formed. For you who feel that there is no person until later you would admit that this process eventually becomes a new being. Then the new person attaches itself to mom and the two generally grow to experience love, and need even before the physical birth. At least the mother does for generally she loves the person that when it is born she would give her life for it. This is magic. The love between the parties forming the new person is also very magical because while it can be physical it can also be spiritual. Love reaches outside a couple until it physically has to be inside each other to form this new person who can be thought to be the physical expression of their spiritual love.

The world is a wondrous and miraculous place. Let's take the time to enjoy this wonderful miraculous place we call home.  And for those who are unfortunately in a bad place caused by poverty, hatred and by people not caring, let us think of them and try to help them anyway we can so that their world will show itself to be the same world we experience.